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Boat club goes electric as part of Thames clean up

Helen DrewPolitics London
News imageBBC A high-angle shot of a man and a woman in a small, silver aluminium motorboat alongside a wooden pontoon. The man, wearing sunglasses and a high-visibility life vest, sits at the steering console while the woman sits facing forward near the back.BBC
The Fulham Reach Boat Club hopes to replace all of its petrol engine boats

A west London boat club has launched an electric boat as part of efforts to reduce emissions on the River Thames and improve access to the water for under-served communities.

The Fulham Reach Boat Club hopes to eventually electrify all of its motorised boats, replacing petrol engines with quieter, zero-emission alternatives.

Unlike traditional petrol-powered boats, the electric craft - which was funded by the Port of London Authority (PLA) - produces no engine noise or harmful carbon dioxide emissions.

Chief executive Adam Freeman-Pask told Politics London the club's wider mission was to use rowing and river activities to benefit local communities.

News imageA man wearing a black jacket and a high-visibility yellow life vest sits in a small boat, holding the steering wheel with his left hand. The boat is on a river with a tree-lined bank in the background under a cloudy sky.
Adam Freeman-Pask said rowers get a chance to experience the nature of the River Thames

"We're all about using sport for the power of good and we want to reach under-served communities and give them a unique and amazing opportunity to get physically active - but also to experience what essentially is the wonderful wildlife and nature here on the River Thames," he said.

The Thames was declared biologically dead by scientists at the Natural History Museum in the 1950s.

Following decades of clean-up work, the river is now home to 125 species of fish as well as seals.

The PLA, which governs the tidal Thames, has faced criticism over pollution and vessel emissions.

Grace Staines from the authority said water quality "definitely needs to be improved" on the river, "although we've made fantastic strides already".

The PLA aims for the Thames between Teddington Lock and the North Sea to become its cleanest since the Industrial Revolution by 2050.

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