Solar powered golf carts hit the green

Golf, beyond the game itself, is perhaps best viewed as a venue for securing business deals. Who knew it would end up driving one of the solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

For a while now golf carts have been touted as an energy efficient alternative to gas-powered automobiles, but thanks to a new solar powered variety, cart manufacturers are raising the bar even further.

Suncatcher Golf Ltd. specializes in creating solar-powered sunroofs for golf carts and interestingly their biggest customers are not golf courses but rather people who use the carts to get around town.

This concept isn’t new and, as some readers may recall, using golf carts outside the golf course was popularized last summer when Leaf Rapids Mayor Ed Charrier called on residents to use the carts to get around regularly. “Why would you start your vehicle for a two-second ride uptown?” asked Charrier in this Victoria Colonist article. The Manitoba town even started offering incentives for residents to make the switch, including providing free golf carts with each of the 66 houses the town purchased, renovated and put on the market.

Of course there is a downside – solutions accompanied by new problems seems only par for the course when it comes to mitigating climate change. With increased use of golf carts as a means to decrease emissions and save energy, the number of golf cart injuries is also on the rise. According to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the injury rate from golf cart accidents has risen more than 130 per cent since 1990 with nearly 150,000 golf cart-related injuries recorded in that time. One study says about 1,000 Americans are injured in golf cart accidents per month.

So while Suncatcher Golf Ltd. is using innovation to steer golf carts in the right direction environmentally, cart manufacturers may need to start outfitting them with safety features such as seatbelts and front brakes. Only then will the golf cart truly fit the environmental movement to a tee.

Of course, when it comes to the golf course, even though Mark Twain described the sport as “a good walk ruined”, dropping the cart altogether would improve your environmental score even further.