Kite-powered ship to cross Atlantic | NEWS.com.au THE world's first cargo ship partially powered by a giant kite was to set sail today from Germany to Venezuela, the company behind the project said. The MS Beluga SkySails is pulled along by a computer-controlled kite attached to the bows of the ship, assisting the engines and reducing fuel consumption by up to 35 per cent depending on the prevailing wind conditions. The 160-square-metre kite was made by Hamburg-based company, SkySails. "During the next few months we will finally be able to prove that our technology works in practice and significantly reduces fuel consumption and emissions," said Stephan Wrage, SkySails' managing director. The advantage of the kite over a sail is that it can pull the ship along regardless of the direction of the wind - and unlike a mast it does not hinder the loading and unloading of cargo vessels. The company admitted that the kite may not yet be sufficiently strong for widespread commercial use. "It is particularly important to raise the manageability and robustness of the system to the level demanded by our customers," said SkySails' technical manager Stephan Brabeck. The ship was to leave from Bremerhaven in northern Germany bound for Guanta in Venezuela.
Managed to find a pic of the ship with the "sail": News Singleansicht Liste Pretty cool. Hope it goes well for them.
Looking at the positives it seems we are going back to our roots. Can't imagine kites or balloons attached to a Boeing 777 though. I still am unable to understand why "wind generators" are not placed on every tall building to generate electrical power.
Yes, I am often scratching my head about that as well, Spidge. Watched a Beyond Tomorrow filler recently about a wind generator in Holland, I think, that was two metal blades twisted into a loose vertical spiral and rotating on a vertical axis. Doesn't take up a lot of room and seemd pretty minimalist. These are placed on the tops of buildings but haven't seen any here yet. Some they showed weren't very large. Even on a still day, there is still air movement between tall buildings so...
As mad as a box of frogs !. Wonder how many they'd need for a supertanker. On a practical note, working on the assumption that the cables (They dont use string do they !) are hydraulically operated, would the running costs of the power supply actually make any savings overall ?. I reckon that most of us have at some time or another played with a kite and got frustrated when the wind suddenly drops and your pride and joy, nose dives into the only tree / bush / puddle for miles around. What happens if this occurs at sea and the kite ends up in the water ?. The potential for wire entanglement and drag from the sail actually in the water must be very high. Personally, I dont think this idea will catch on, but hey, I might be wrong.
That thought crossed my mind as well, Gary, including the weather limitations of the whole thing. Still, top marks for thinking a bit outside the square!
*In steps the girl who talks to everyone at work, including the wind turbine engineer* Apparently, and forgive my dodgy memory for numbers, the current HUGE turbines that are used to make up farms require a full square mile area around each one in case a blade becomes detatched. Therefore space is a major consideration. Then there is efficiency: these huge turbines are geared, and with every stage of gears you get a loss of energy, so the turbine is only about 60% efficient or less. Add to this the twisiting to the shafts and the tearing of gears, which in itself reduces efficiency further. The tearing and twisting means regular maintenance is needed to replace sheared gears etc, and overall a single turbine will have an operable lifespan of 15-20 years. And at the end of that it will have only about a 30% efficiency or so. Now there are now new designs coming through from forward looking independant engineers, that get rid of the gearing and use a brand new system, giving a turbine a third of the size, that needs a third of the area, and produces a 97% efficiency rate with a longer lifespan and less problems. Funnily enugh they can't get any backing from the government for these designs. As to the Holland vertical turbine, Holland appear to be at least 15 years ahead of everybody else in renewable energy and recycling. And I like the ship but I think it needs a lot more development as they say before they can go commercial with it.
