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What is as cool as glaciers?
Electric vehicles powered by glaciers.
Hydroelectric power plants in Skagway, Alaska primarily use gravity
rather than large man-made reservoirs generate electricity resulting in highly
sustainable electric power throughout the year with very little environmental
impact and minimal greenhouse gas emissions.
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park has been able to utilize this clean
green electricity to move forward with the goals set forth by the Green Parks
Plan to reduce the use of petroleum and lower greenhouse gas emissions through
the use of electric vehicles.
The park currently owns five electric vehicles including an electric step van,
four global electric motor cars or GEMS
and one hybrid vehicle.
By replacing petroleum fueled vehicles with electric varieties the park
has reduced its consumption of gasoline by approximately
fifteen hundred gallons per year and cut CO2 emissions by thirty thousand
pounds annually.
The greatest beauty of electric vehicles in Skagway is they are essentially powered
by rain, melting snow, and the surrounding glaciers of the coastal temperate
rain forest in
which Skagway is located.
The presence of electric vehicles alone engage visitors in the efforts of the
National Park Service to lower its environmental impact by reducing the use
of fossil fuels. And park employees take every opportunity to answer
visitor questions regarding the electric vehicle fleet.
Each GEM is also outfitted with placards posted clearly in the windows
that answer the most commonly asked questions about these unique vehicles.
These placards also provide information and regarding Skagway's renewable sources
of energy and the savings in money, fossil fuel used and CO2 emissions.
by using an electric vehicles
the hope of Klondike Gold rush National Historical Park
is that each visitor who has the opportunity to learn about our electric
vehicles will walk away with the belief that this mode of transportation is
truly has a cool as the glaciers and waterfalls that power them.