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]