[lorenzo]

Skysails, a German company, is creating the new age of sail.

http://skysails.info/index.php?id=13

Shipping sucks up huge quantities of oil and pollutes big time. A skysail can reduce the energy needs of a ship by 30 to 50%. This is just fantastic. Just consider how much oil we'd save if all ships had such a sail.
A cheap fly-by-wire computer, a huge kite, and a rig -- and voilà, your mega oil tanker gets pulled forward at a steady speed.

I'm wary of technofixes, but sometimes they're so simple and they work so well, that I become an optimist once again.


MarkL posted a New Scientist article on SkySails' successful tests:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/mg18524881.600

Peak Oil? What's that?

[Lehyina]

That could bring about a useful reduction in bunker fuel consumption.
Pity skysails aren't applicable to the automobile.

[MarkL]

..

[frankthetank]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')ANSAS—In 1867, a railroad inspector built a sail-equipped railcar to help him on his rounds in western Kansas. In September of that year, he traveled 13 miles between Ellis (pop. 1,702) and Hays (pop. 19,230) in 40 minutes, at times reaching speeds of 40 mph.

[boilingleadbath]

Well, it only took industrial scociety 200 years, but they'v finaly significantly improved opon the sail! yippy!

It seem that the 30-50% savings assumes that you help it with your eingiens, so, I would assume that you could not use them, even if it ment you went slower.

I'd assume that it takes a bit of electricity to operate (athough you might be able to substitute manual labor), but you could generate that with a little propeler hooked up to a generator.

[born2respawn]

Not much cop if you're crossing the equator (duldrums and all that) but it'll definately have its uses when the price of oil goes up.

[Wallygator]

[quote="lorenzo"]Skysails, a German company, is creating the new age of sail.

Sails on ships. Ooohhh! What an innovative idea. I bet one of these days the HarleyDavidson company will discover that if they put pedals on their bad boy machines that riders will be able to consume less gas. I'd like to see Orange County Choppers come out with something like that. If you think that old guy screams at his son alot wait until he sees this. It'll work like this: When you're cruising on the highway you can pedal at leisure adding just a little to the total power output. It may not look cool right now but after PO who knows?

[lorenzo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Wallygator', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lorenzo', 'S')kysails, a German company, is creating the new age of sail.

Sails on ships. Ooohhh! What an innovative idea. I bet one of these days the HarleyDavidson company will discover that if they put pedals on their bad boy machines that riders will be able to consume less gas. I'd like to see Orange County Choppers come out with something like that. If you think that old guy screams at his son alot wait until he sees this. It'll work like this: When you're cruising on the highway you can pedal at leisure adding just a little to the total power output. It may not look cool right now but after PO who knows?

[ECM]

This is basically a return to the old ways and a reduction of technology dependence. This is the type of thing that humans will have to do to survive peak oil/NG with minimal backslide. The best part of this is the skysail should be more effective than the old mast type sails due to harnessing higher wind speeds at greater elevation much like wind turbines do.

I actually prefer the Danish windship design. One of the problems that may arise with the skysail is the stress placed on the ship where the cable is attached.

[Wallygator]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('lorenzo', '
')Why don't you read the article before you make yourself look like an idiot?

[CalgaryEng]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ECM', 'T')his is basically a return to the old ways and a reduction of technology dependence. This is the type of thing that humans will have to do to survive peak oil/NG with minimal backslide. The best part of this is the skysail should be more effective than the old mast type sails due to harnessing higher wind speeds at greater elevation much like wind turbines do.

I actually prefer the Danish windship design. One of the problems that may arise with the skysail is the stress placed on the ship where the cable is attached.

[gg3]

I agree it has potential even though there are parts of the world where it wouldn't be viable due to lack of wind.

The fly in the ointment seems to be the issue of launching and recovering the "kite." Also I suspect that there will be chaos-math factors that complicate things somewhat, i.e. the potential for trouble due to relatively rapid localized fluctuations in wind over the open oceans that we don't quite understand yet because we've never had a reason to look for them until now.

Even so, do it. Everything counts.

[Starvid]

Well, or we could just use nuclear powered ships.

They even work when the wind is not blowing.

[kiteship]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'I') agree it has potential even though there are parts of the world where it wouldn't be viable due to lack of wind.

The fly in the ointment seems to be the issue of launching and recovering the "kite." Also I suspect that there will be chaos-math factors that complicate things somewhat, i.e. the potential for trouble due to relatively rapid localized fluctuations in wind over the open oceans that we don't quite understand yet because we've never had a reason to look for them until now.

Even so, do it. Everything counts.

[gg3]

Welcome to the forum, kiteship.

I really do hope you can solve the "launch and recover" issue.

As for getting under bridges etc., a small conventional powerplant should be sufficient for close-in navigation.

Nuclear ships: Obviously a good thing for time-sensitive cargo. The point of kite-ships is to handle cargo that is less time-sensitive. This isn't an "either/or," it's another "both/and."

[kiteship]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gg3', 'W')elcome to the forum, kiteship.

I really do hope you can solve the "launch and recover" issue.

As for getting under bridges etc., a small conventional powerplant should be sufficient for close-in navigation.

[EnviroEngr]

kiteship,

If you need any 'administrative' assistance on the site, make sure to let any of the Senior Moderators know by way of Private Messaging (PM) or post directly on the thread.

EE

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Starvid', 'W')ell, or we could just use nuclear powered ships.

They even work when the wind is not blowing.

[lorenzo]

Welcome from me too, Kiteship. Your work looks pretty impressive. How big are you planning to go? What kind of ships are you focussing on to kickstart widescale adoption of the technology?

[Aaron]

Wonderful idea...

I own a traction kite myself and imagine this technique can be most useful.

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