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Large ocean vessels like cargo and cruise ships are some of the biggest greenhouse gas producers on the planet, so I really hope this is a good way forward.
At the very least they should have all long-since been converted to diesel instead of bunker fuel, which emits more carbon and a shit ton of sulfur, one of the worst greenhouse gasses. But these people give less than a fuck. Countries need to be willing to stop trade with vessels like this before even the simplest technical solutions will be adopted.
It’s kind of funny because this is true, but if God came down and changed all logistics to trains and aircraft tomorrow our emissions would rise enormously. Shipping is extremely efficient, we just do a fuckton of it.
As is, we do it by ship, so hopefully wind-powered shipping and electric cargo ships will be the way of the future for them.
It seems to make economical sense to be utilising winds whenever they’re blowing. I’m no expert but reduced engine maintenance and fuel consumption at those times are the two I can think of. So long as the wind infrastructure isn’t expensive to maintain and use, this would be the preferred option sailing forward.
Neat - these things usually show up in the news as a render and then you never hear about it again. Being actually built full-scale is pretty cool.
Sails obviously work, the two questions with an automated metal sail for cargo ships are cost and reliability. Making moving parts that don’t break down in high wind and salt water isn’t easy.
Ships, powered by the wind? What a time to be alive!
It’s pretty wild to think that as recently as 1939 commercially-viable sailing vessels were still hauling cargo around the world. Even weirder to think that one of these vessels ended up appearing in The Godfather Part II and is now a floating restaurant in Philadelphia.
We’ve come full circle in a way, let’s hope this technology succeeds.
