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Karbon Kinetics has handed over a fleet of GoCycles to the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy, further minimising the award winning venue’s environmental impact.
The Academy, described by Natural England as "an example for best practice for sustainabilitiy, has been chosen as the venue for the sailing competition at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 20 per cent of the site’s electricity is generated via photovoltaic cells which harness solar power.
Richard Thorpe, founder of KKL and designer of Gocycle, said, “With an incredibly low operating cost of 0.35 pence per mile, Gocycle delivers highly economical electric transportation that is also sustainable, convenient and environmentally-friendly. We are delighted to be able to assist the WPNSA in their trial of electric two wheelers for sustainable transport and support in the run-up to the Olympic events.”
John Tweed, chief executive of WPNSA, added, “We recognised from the outset that we were proposing development in a very environmentally sensitive area—Portland Harbour, Dorset—adjacent to a World Heritage site. Sailing itself is a pretty benign activity, but we do use powered craft as safety boats and so on; therefore, we wanted to make sure we were making a positive contribution to the environment rather than a negative one. The academy will be evaluating the use of Gocycle on the site over this very busy summer period and we are very excited about the potential of this technology.”
