12-19-2007, 12:06 PM
|
#1 (permalink)
|
|
Batman Junior
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,527
Thanks: 4,078
Thanked 6,976 Times in 3,612 Posts
|
Video: Skysails demonstrates supplementary kite power on diesel merchant ship
Anyone else been following the news about this technology?
From ABG:
Quote:
|
The Skysail, a giant kite used to help propel ships, has made its debut[...]. MV Beluga Skysail is the world's first cargo ship to use the Skysail and the ship will make its maiden voyage in early 2008 from Germany to Venezuela. The Skysail is 400 feet long and the kite can rise 100 yards into the sky, controlled by a computer system. [It can save] 20 percent in fuel (about $1,600 a day).
|
There's a Reuter's news clip at ABG that I can't embed here.
Also a Youtube vid available:
Who woulda thunk it - sails on a cargo ship! 
|
|
|
|
 Today
|
|
|
|
Other popular topics in this forum...
|
|
|
|
|
12-19-2007, 12:09 PM
|
#2 (permalink)
|
|
Batman Junior
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,527
Thanks: 4,078
Thanked 6,976 Times in 3,612 Posts
|
|
|
|
|
|
12-19-2007, 12:18 PM
|
#3 (permalink)
|
|
Batman Junior
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,527
Thanks: 4,078
Thanked 6,976 Times in 3,612 Posts
|
Hmmm?
 |
|
|
|
|
12-19-2007, 01:34 PM
|
#4 (permalink)
|
|
ECO-Evolution
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Central Texas
Posts: 1,482
Thanks: 17
Thanked 45 Times in 34 Posts
|
I saw something about this on TV. It's really pretty complicated and they have lots of computers to figure out the best way to sail. It's also no good for ships traveling over 16 kts. Any body know the speed of a tanker?
__________________
"Judge a person by their questions rather than their answers."
|
|
|
|
|
09-02-2008, 10:59 PM
|
#5 (permalink)
|
|
Sequential
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 177
Thanks: 0
Thanked 22 Times in 7 Posts
|
the sail car has been done before - pre road
Nebraska Ship Sails On A Sea Of Grass
ecomodders of the past 
the article in the link (written 100+ years ago) is a pretty funny too
__________________
Concrete
Start where you are - Use what you have - Do what you can.
|
|
|
|
|
09-03-2008, 02:31 PM
|
#7 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Earth
Posts: 5,209
Thanks: 225
Thanked 811 Times in 594 Posts
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-03-2008, 07:59 PM
|
#8 (permalink)
|
|
Sequential
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 177
Thanks: 0
Thanked 22 Times in 7 Posts
|
Yay baby!
I can see it now
screaming thru traffic in one of these 
still cool to move 108 mph with just wind 
__________________
Concrete
Start where you are - Use what you have - Do what you can.
|
|
|
|
|
09-04-2008, 12:49 AM
|
#9 (permalink)
|
|
Master EcoModder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Earth
Posts: 5,209
Thanks: 225
Thanked 811 Times in 594 Posts
|
Cooler still: your eyes are very close to the ground, so it seems even faster. Though my personal experience is with the sailboard- sail-on-a-kart type at around 30 mph, it's still an odd feeling. Because the dry lakes are flat & basically featureless, you can feel like "hey, I'm going like a bat outa hell" and "I'm stuck here like a bug on a plate" at the same time.
|
|
|
|
|
09-04-2008, 12:48 PM
|
#10 (permalink)
|
|
EcoModding Apprentice
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 154
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
|
Combine this with that guy who built the wave powered boat and the shipping industry would be revolutionized. The wave power got him 4-5 knots and this thing goes up to 16 knots, might be able to get 10 knots out of a vessel completely for free.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
