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Global shipping has always bothered me. I mean, how much fuel does it
take to get my new Dell to me really. Most of it comes, quite
literally, from the other side of the world. And while we've been
working on improving the automobile for years now, we haven't done or
said much about the barge, those ubiquitous behemoths that measure fuel
use in gallons per mile, not miles per gallon.
So you can imagine how excited I was when, today, I read about the E/S Ocelle, and emissions free barge that has been designed by Wallenius/Wilhelmsmen.
The barge would be powered mostly by fuel cells, but it would require
much less power than other barges for several reasons. First, it is
light weight and extremely aerodynamic (for a barge, anyway.) But even
more interesting are it's alternative sources of power. The huge fins
on the back of the barge are not only solar collectors, but can also be
positioned to be wind sails, and the vessel contains a system to
generate electricity from the power of the waves it rides in.
More than being emissions free, the barge also has no need for ballast
water, which has been shown to cause huge amounts of environmental
degradation because they can transmit exotic species as well as
poisonous chemicals from the ballast walls.
We're going to be be waiting for a while on this one, probably at least fifteen years. However, some of the components of it's design (the solar cells / sails, or the drag reducing body) could be implemented within five years. Nevertheless, this is a dramatic statement from the shipping industry, and a wake-up call to all of us who currently buy goods from overseas (and I do mean 'all of us.')
We're going to be be waiting for a while on this one, probably at least fifteen years. However, some of the components of it's design (the solar cells / sails, or the drag reducing body) could be implemented within five years. Nevertheless, this is a dramatic statement from the shipping industry, and a wake-up call to all of us who currently buy goods from overseas (and I do mean 'all of us.')
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written by Hank, October 04, 2006
It's true, if it isn't cheaper, there's no reason to do it. But if fuel prices continue to increase, and governments continue to regulate as they have, shipping companies might not have any choice.
Maybe we'll have to absorb the cost of a new 100 million dollar tanker, but it's better than absorbing the cost of a ten thousand year heat wave.
The fact that such a ship has even been designed is proof that, at least on the edges, the shipping industry is open to innovation. No one can really complain about efficiency.
Maybe we'll have to absorb the cost of a new 100 million dollar tanker, but it's better than absorbing the cost of a ten thousand year heat wave.
The fact that such a ship has even been designed is proof that, at least on the edges, the shipping industry is open to innovation. No one can really complain about efficiency.
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written by Hermann Otto, November 08, 2006
Basic concept is good,Sail aerea not big enough, too much above water, sidewind resitance,"light weight" empty,but a barge is a barge. I have seen fresh water dragged in a huge rubber(?)saudage nearly under water from Piraeus to small outlying islands with a relative small tug: no wind resistance. Hermann (c:
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written by Celia, January 12, 2007
If petroleum runs out, what choice do we have? If we are now using the last of it, what coice do we have? What sort of budget do we have for the petroleum we know we have? How would a fleet of such barges effect that budget?
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written by Campbell, October 11, 2007
look up "solar sailor" outfit in Australia that is using rigid, solar cell covered sails for ferry boats....NOW, not someday. Neat!
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You want your Dell as cheap as possible, all business looks for ways to cut the single bottom line. Before we leave this mentality behind these shortcuts mean our freight will be paddled about the oceans on floating pieces of rust manned by cut rate labour driven by fossil fuels.