A solar-powered electric popemobile?

The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI would gladly use one as another sign of his efforts to promote sustainable energy and safeguard God’s creation.

Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, who runs the Vatican City state, said Wednesday that the Pope would certainly prefer an electric popemobile to a traditional one. But he says one has to be offered.

His comments came during a presentation of a book on the Vatican’s use of solar energy. The Vatican in 2008 installed photovoltaic cells on the roof of its main auditorium and a year later installed a solar cooling unit for its main cafeteria.

The technology has won awards and garnered Benedict a reputation as the “green pope.”