Hybrid Technology

[akirlu]

Thanks to one of the Kos diaries, I find that the shipping industry has entered a new Age of Sail. Hamburg firm SkySails has collaborated with The Beluga Group to launch a hybrid freighter that draws a portion of its power from wind. Once at sea, the freighter lofts what looks like a big-ass parasail -- what they call a towing kite -- and the kite then helps pull the ship along. They're claiming up to 20% of motive power can be drawn from wind.

At first blush, this looks big. Freighters run on standard diesel and as such are a major source of the atmospheric carbon load. Reducing the usage by leveraging wind would certainly be a step in the right direction. And since using the sail cuts fuel costs, you'd think that other shippers would be eager to hybridize too.

Comments

[liveavatar.livejournal.com]

...Okay, *that* is not where I expected to see hybrid technology cropping up. How very cool!

[k6rfm.livejournal.com]

Actually freighters run on "bunker oil" which is nowhere near as clean as diesel. (It's basically the sludge left after all the good stuff is refined out of crude, and is nearly solid at room temperature.) Ships use this because they can, and it's cheap. If this kite tech actually saves ship operators money, it's got a good chance of being used.