November 30, 2007
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SkySails Assist Freighters
SkySails
People are always looking for ways to utilize the wind. Here’s another idea that someone has already put into practice, as opposed to Richard Dryden’s idea which appears to still be in the planning stage.
Football field-sized kite powers latest heavy freight ship
Submitted by Layer8on Sun, 11/25/2007 – 11:19pm.
A kite the size of a football field will provide most of the
power for a German heavy freight ship set to launch in December.The Beluga shipping company that owns the 460-foot Beluga
said it expects the kites to decrease fuel consumption by up to 50% in optimal
cases as well as a cutback of the emission of greenhouse gases on sea by 10 to
20%. Interestingly, the ship will be hauling windmills from Esbjerg, Denmark to
Houston, Texas.The company that makes the kite for the German
transport, SkySails, has made kites for large yachts but is targeting
commercial ships with new, larger kites. And it has the ambitious goal of
equipping 1,500 ships with kites by 2015.(Excerpt from article at http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22225.)
References:
1. http://www.skysails.info/index.php?L=1
2. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22225
