In honor of Earth Day, this week’s edition of Top 3 Thursdays will list the greenest roller coasters on Earth. Well, at least the greenest coasters I could find.
3 – The Heege Freizeittechnik Butterfly at Various Parks – Europe
Butterfly is the model name of a very small family shuttle roller coaster. It looks like it could fit in your backyard! They are “self-service” and take only 1.1Kwh/hr to operate at a capacity of 80 riders per hour. While it does take some energy it’s likely a lot less than your average roller coaster. That makes this coaster green in my book. RCDB lists 38 of these little coasters currently in operation mostly at parks in Europe.
2 – Vogn Pa Ror at Joboland Brændesgårdshaven – Denmark
Vogn Pa Ror is described as a “manually operated roller coaster”. Riders pull the car to the top of the hill themselves. After that it runs like a traditional roller coaster.” You can’t beat a people-powered roller coaster when it comes to ecological impact.
1 – Green Dragon at GreenWood Forest Park – United Kingdom
Like Vogn Pa Ror, Green Dragon is a people-powered, only it is much larger. When it opened in 2004, it was billed as the World’s first people-powered roller coaster. Riders climb a hill to get to the loading station while a separate exit station exists at a lower elevation. Then when the cars roll down the hill, they pull empty cars up to the loading station. It looks like a fun ride through the park’s green terrain. Read more about Green Dragon…>>>
Pedal-Powered Ride Not a Roller Coaster
As a public service I’d like to clear something up. The Skycycle at Washuzan Highland Park in 
Okayama, Japan received a ton of Internet buzz last year. Everyone deemed it a pedal-powered roller coaster, but it’s technically not a roller coaster at all. It’s basically a bicycle on a fixed track and doesn’t meet the requirements to be considered a coaster. Even worse people confused an actual roller coaster (also with a white track) near the ride as part of the same track, making Skycycle seem even crazier. While it’s not actually a coaster, the views from Skycyle look amazing!
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of these green roller coasters? Do you know of any other people-powered roller coasters? Would you like to see more of these in the States? Leave a comment below.