Harnessing kite power to a ship
BERLIN: Oil at more than $90 a barrel is concentrating minds in the shipping industry. Higher fuel costs and mounting pressure to curb emissions are leading modern merchant fleets to rediscover the ancient power of the sail.
The world's first commercial ship powered partly by a giant kite sets off on a maiden voyage from Germany to Venezuela on Tuesday, in an experiment that the inventor Stephan Wrage hopes can wipe 20 percent, or $1,600, from the ship's daily fuel bill.
"We aim to prove it pays to protect the environment," Wrage said in an interview. "Showing that ecology and economics are not contradictions motivates us all."
The MS Beluga SkySails, which will use a computer-guided kite to harness powerful ocean winds far above the surface and support the engine, combines modern technology with know-how that has been in use for millennia.
But if Skysails is a relatively elaborate solution, another development shows that the march of progress is not always linear: Shipping companies seeking immediate answers to soaring fuel prices and the need to cut emissions are, simply, slowing down.
1 comment:
What do stocks in Nasdaq have to do with this kite?
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