Solar Sailing Super-Yachts
Super-yachts owned by super-billionaires aren’t usually thought of as being environmentally friendly. They are, first and foremost, symbols of in-your-face wealth, (and, in some cases, possibly signs of having to compensate for something.) But a new interest in making sea transportation energy efficient has been emerging.
CNN’s article, “Solar sails could turn super-yachts green”, points out how Solar Sailor, an energy company based in Sydney, is working towards creating fin-like solar “sails” for large boats, acting as a sail but also as a large, energy-generating solar panel, minimizing fuel consumption.
Though not the greatest looking things in the world, the environmental benefits of a large solar-powered watercraft, ships, and shipping vessels are enormous.
A recent airing of Man-Made, on the National Geographic Channel, about the engineering that went into building the Queen Mary 2 (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/man-made/3548/Overview#tab-Overview) pointed out the massive amounts of energy needed to not only put the ship into motion, but to keep everything on board functional. Maybe a future Queen Mary 3 could benefit from some solar power?
The CNN article can be found at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/11/04/solar.sails/index.html
[Images from CNN and Solar Sailor]
