Wind-Powered Tall Ships Are Once Again Important As Oil Prices Hurt Trade
Sometimes it takes an energy crisis to make us realize the value of old technology. As oil prices soar, tall wind-powered ships are looking like an increasingly viable alternative.
The first commercial cargo of French wine to be transported by sailboat in the modern era is due to arrive in Dublin this week after a six-day trip. The 108 year-old British boat, chartered by French shipping company Compagnie de Transport Maritime a la Voile (CMTV), is carrying 30,000 bottles of wine.
Though the ship travels at a top speed of eight knots— half the speed of a modern cargo vessel—it is completely pollution-free. The 50,000 other merchant ships traveling the world emit 800 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
- » Read more on efficiency
- » See peer reviews of Efficient Appliances, Lighting, and more at Green Home
The Kathleen & May spent most of its life transporting coal and clay. It was taken out of commercial service in 1960. Now it’s once again hard at work, as CMTV has contracted for 80 vineyard owners from southern France to carry their wine bottles to Ireland on the ship. The company is also working on another deal to bring Irish whiskey and scotch to France using the boat, and it eventually plans on building its own tall ships for transport.
CMTV may be on to something; according to the French Association of Shipowners, wind-powered boats could capture .5% of the commercial shipping market. This may not sound like much—until you consider that 90% of the world’s traded goods are transported via boat.
Tall ships may move a bit slower than fossil-fuel powered ships, but their minimal environmental impact could make them sea trade’s best hope for the future.
While tall ships most likely won’t return to the mainstream, the fact that people are using them in commercial applications indicates that wind power IS gaining some serious momentum as a viable source. Check out SkySails, too (http://www.skysails.info/).
We have always been capable of zero-emission transport (sailing is not new tech); however, the short-term direction I see it taking is a hybrid approach, where wind powers auxiliary systems and works in conjunction with the ship’s engines for propulsion. Long-term, with advances in solar, wind, and wave technology manufacturing, it is not unreasonable to think we will have zero-emission sea vessels that are just as, if not more, efficient than our current vessels.
Anyway, I like the idea of using tall ships to transport. They are, and always will be, much cooler than modern container ships.
Amazing, but whatever works… I see some ships are now installing green algae fuel production units on board. They lower fueling costs and increase cruising range.
If you think it is embarasing to run out of fuel on the highway, think about running out of fuel at sea. The ability to make more fuel on board ship is one of the great achevements of the new Age of Bio-Technology.
larryhagedon
American Flex Fuel Experience.
AmericanFFE-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
I have been a sailor for more than 30 years. Unfortunately, the top speed of sailboats is not their only disadvantage as commercial carriers.
Sailboats are great fun, but they require nearly constant adjustments as the wind changes velocity and direction. The beautiful sails that enable quiet, emissions free propulsion also require a substantial capital investment and regular maintenance.
The hull speed is also only available when the wind is right. Unfortunately, that is not the case for 50-70% of the time.
Finally, the carrying capacity of sailing vessels is much lower than that of fossil or nuclear powered vessels. There is a good reason why competitive sailboats are very spartan down below - the weight of fixtures would slow down the boat.
Anybody have information and a picture of the French schooner Saint Chateaux.
NIce! There is nothing like a ride on a nice sailing ship. Nothing like it anywhere!
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
Rather than 100+ year old 2-and-3 masted sailboats, we are much more likely to be seeing the modern kite-assisted ships:
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/01/kite-powered-fr.html
Obviously modern day sailboats have the benefit of improved technology (autoriggers, gps, real time weather info, etc). They are still going to have serious limitations. Besides their slower speed, sailboats are rarely able to take direct routes to their destination… particularly while crossing either the Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. Sudden changes in weather patterns can mean course changes that can add days and weeks to a vogage, a serious disadvantage for sailboats.
I see sails augmenting our current superfreighters as a viable solution to energy prices… but sailboats? Prices need to come up big time.
Hmmmmmm…… let’s see…….30,000 bottles of french wine going to Ireland…… That should be about a 2 day supply for them. Irish whiskey and scotch to France……as far back as I can remember, over there scotch and whiskey are both the same thing. But then I don’t drink anymore…..perhaps the memory download isn’t the same these days. A french man drinking anything other than wine…..unforgivable!!
if cutting transportation time in half is a problem, try combining wind and oil power 50/50.
>> Tall ships may move a bit slower than fossil-fuel powered ships.
Uh, try again. The old wind powered ships were a lot slower than current commercial bulk cargo ship. More importantly, steam and oil powered cargo vessels were more reliable schedule-wise not to mention a lot less difficult to handle — especially going to windward.
How about oar power — like in Waterworld? I heard 2/3 of all Americans are fat cows so maybe this would be a good option.