Driven for a cleaner environment

Local man helms winning team effort at Tour de Sol, a competition for vehicles running on alternative forms of energy.

By: Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   Those who do not have an abundant supply of gasoline may be green with envy over those who do; but they can turn to "green" education to understand that they have a greater quantity of something far more important — electrical energy.
   "Gasoline is not the only answer, there are other ways," said Paul Kydd, a Lawrence resident whose electric battery-operated car won first place and $750 in the 2006 Tour de Sol competition held May 10-14 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
   The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), which is located in Greenfield, Massachusetts and runs the competition, is a proponent of using these more valuable resources to avoid polluting the air and promotes education as a way to teach these alternate methods.
   The 18th annual Tour de Sol, which took place at the Saratoga Springs Park and Spring Auto Show, showcased vehicles that do not depend on gasoline, but rather run on more environmentally friendly materials, avoiding oil use and carbon emissions.
   "The competition started with mostly solar-powered vehicles," Mr. Kydd said. "Then it became more battery."
   The Tour de Sol is divided into three different competitions for nonpolluting vehicles, Mr. Kydd said. There is a competition for full-size cars running on electric batteries, a rally for hybrid cars from all over the country that get points for low gas consumption and a race for neighborhood electric vehicles and bicycles.
   "It attracts people experimenting with transportation concepts and raises awareness of what is possible," Mr. Kydd said.
   Mr. Kydd said he has always been interested in electric boats and this was his chance to see how the electricity works in a car.
   "It was a chance to try out the compound battery and see it in competition," he said.
   Mr. Kydd’s car, a 1986 Ford Escort that was converted 10 years ago and entered in its first Tour de Sol in 1996, was originally owned by Oliver Perry, a physics teacher at Cinnaminson High School in Burlington County. Mr. Kydd said Mr. Perry converted the car with his students at the high school and worked on improving it until his recent retirement when the car was turned over to the Burlington County Institute of Technology.
   Students at the Institute of Technology worked alongside Burlington County Community College to continue altering the car and entering it in the competition. The group competed as Burlington County Electecs of Lawrenceville.
   Mr. Kydd said he began attending the Tour de Sol as an observer four years ago and entered the competition as an individual last year with an electric bicycle, winning second place in the race for neighborhood electric vehicles and bicycles.
   This year, he said, he worked with the Burlington County schools to convert the Escort once again and added lithium ion and lead acid batteries.
   Mr. Kydd said the car had previously run with only lead batteries, but it was too heavy. "Putting (the two batteries) together seems best," he said. "It gives more range and takes the weight out. More energy is stored."
   The competition itself is a way for people to understand that there are options besides using gasoline and adding pollution to the air.
   "It’s partly demonstration, partly to get youngsters involved in green education," Mr. Kydd said.
   With gas prices on the rise and the effects of global warming getting worse, it seems likely that people would be more willing to use environmentally-safe fuels for cars, according to Mr. Kydd.
   "Part of the objective is to get people involved," he said.