You may ask how green an electric car really is—after all, doesn’t it have to be shipped to the dealership using dirty fossil-fuel trucks and ships? Not quite—Nissan has just revealed its new energy-efficient, partially solar-powered cargo ship, specifically developed to make the process of getting electric cars from the factory to the showroom a little greener.
Nissan keeps making noise about leading the charge toward zero emissions, or at least as little carbon dioxide output as possible. Going beyond their zero emissions and eco-friendly cars is their latest domestic shipping project – an energy-efficient and eco-friendly car carrier.
Named the Nichiomaru, which means “king of Japan,” the ship is the first Japanese vessel to make use of both solar panels and an electrically controlled diesel engine. It’s also got energy-efficient appliances and lights up nearly everything with LEDs. According to Nissan’s calculations, the Nichiomaru will use 1400 tons less of fuel and put out 4200 fewer tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to the same class of ships without the nifty gadgets.
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The Nichiomaru is based in Yokohama (that’s the one that has the massive USAF base nearby, south of Tokyo). Its shipping route will take it from the Kanto region (around Tokyo) out west to the Kinki region (the port city of Kobe, home of the super-expensive Kobe beef), and down south to the island of Kyushu, and that’s where it gets super neat. Where previous ships running this path would make 4 circuits a week, the Nichiomaru can make 6 and still use fewer finite resources to do it. And it isn’t Nissan’s only foray into green shipping, as they are also using an aerodynamically-improved shipping carrier in Northern Europe to deliver LEAF EV’s to dealerships as well.
The solar-diesel hybrid ship is the latest part of Nissan’s environmental action plan, which it calls the “Nissan Green Program 2016.” Their stated goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions not only coming out of the tailpipe of the car, but also in production, distribution, and sales. The Nichiomaru is their first success in the logistics area of the chain.
Questions? Opinions? Let us know in the comments, below.
Source: Kankyo Business | Image: Nissan.
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