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Considering the wind as an extra source of power, the fuel use of cargo ships can be reduced substantially.
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Sailing at the touch of a button: wind-powered, computer-controlled.
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Wind is a free source of energy, but a cargo sailing ship needed a huge crew to operate the rigging. In addition, wind is unpredictable – it was impossible to know beforehand when a sailing ship would reach its destination.
Fibreglass
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The rigging is operated from the bridge by remote control, so there is hardly any need for extra crew. The Swedish-Norwegian shipbuilder Wallenius Wilhelmsen presented a similar concept in 2005. In this case, the sails are also covered with solar panels.
Passing under a bridge
In other words, if there is no wind, the rigging makes for extra fuel use. Furthermore, the masts and sails also hinder the loading and unloading of cargo, and they can raise problems when passing under a bridge.
Kitesurfing
Furthermore, the ship is not listing in heavy winds and the kite does not hinder the loading and unloading process. The kite is launched and pulled in automatically, both processes take around 20 minutes. Another advantage is that the system can be installed on an existing cargo vessel. SkySails started carrying out tests with prototypes in 2004. Now, the technology is getting commercialized.
Twice as much wind
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At an altitude of 200 metres, twice as much wind can be harvested with the same sail surface - which translates into traction that is four times higher, since the wind pressure is equal to the square of the wind speed. The company is sure that a kite can bring down the fuel costs from ships with 10 to 50 percent. The exact amount depends on the route and the season.
Extra speed
The only way around that is to equip ships with other renewable energy sources (like solar panels or wave energy) and to get rid of the diesel engine completely – like in the case of this Australian passenger ship.
There is also a lot of ecological profit to be gained by replacing the extremely dirty marine fuel by the cleaner diesel that is used by road transport.
© Kris De Decker (edited by Vincent Grosjean)
1. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cargo ships is twice that from air travel.
2. Statistics, previously kept hidden from the public, showed that the shipping conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk emitted as much greenhouse gasses as the entire nation put together. (Via Treehugger)
3. A wave powered boat : cool, but why not use wind power?
4. French ship their wine under sail
5. Commercial fishermen are reverting to wind power in response to soaring fuel prices (via)
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