[Vegas]

Damnit, you greedy sailors stopped the wind!
Now what do we do?


Trying to move a modern cargo ship with wind is like a sparrow farting in a hurricane.

100,000 tons*2000=2,000,000,000 lbs. yikes!
Like in waterworld when they are rowing the valdez.

I am pretty sure they measure fuel consumption in gallons per foot.

If we bring back sail, we can bring back pirates!

[dunewalker]

Why limit wind-powered transportation to ships?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_sailing

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dunewalker', 'W')hy limit wind-powered transportation to ships?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_sailing

[Polemic]

Speaking of boats...

This weekend I was doing a bit of research on building something like this:

Solar-Powered Pontoon Boat




This particular one would need 2 or 3 times the number of panels to be self-sufficient.

But I want it to be amphibious, somewhat like this below:




Of course, this will probably be like most things in my life -- a lot of thinking and not much doing.

[bodigami]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dontworryaboutpeakoil', 'S')ails will only work if the wind is blowing in the correct direction.

With a Wind Turbine, you can rotate the Wind Blade to the direction of the Wind so as long as there is a breeze, no matter what direction, it would work.

Say you have two 1 Million watt turbines. Isn't that enough to power the Engine and the power needs of the ship?

[lorenzo]

Guys, get real please. It's called Skysails.

The technology works, as was recently demonstrated by a trip from Germany to Venezuela and back. It cuts fuel consumption by 30 to 50%.


Forget solar panels or wind turbines on ships.

[Aedo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Hagakure_Leofman', 'I') can't see how this would work. Wouldn't this be some kind of "perpetual motion" vehicle? I.e. the drag created by the windmill would be greater than the energy generated so you'd have a net loss of energy a la the the second law of thermodynamics.
I recall someone asked something similar on the radio about cars that generate electricity while breaking, and so the question was,

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '"')if these cars generate electricity while breaking that charges the battery that runs the car, why can't we drive around with the brakes lightly depressed, thus generating enough electricity not to have to charge the car?"

[muon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MonteQuest', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Beagle', 'W')ind is out there to use for free.

[frankthetank]

Something different... just in the news today.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'J')apanese sailor and environmentalist Kenichi Horie has completed a 110-day solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean in a boat propelled by wave power to claim another world first.
Weak waves and opposing ocean currents delayed his arrival, which was originally set for late May.

"When waves were weak, the boat slowed down. That's the problem to be solved," the adventurer told reporters Saturday from aboard his catamaran Suntory Mermaid II off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan.

The 9.5 metre (31-foot) boat is equipped with two special fins at the front which can move like a dolphin's tail each time the vessel rises or falls with the rhythm of the waves.

Horie, who will turn 70 in September, reached his destination in the channel between the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku just before midnight (1500 GMT Friday) after covering some 7,000 kilometres (3,780 nautical miles) from Hawaii without a port call.

"The feeling is yet to sink in," Horie added, according to the Jiji and Kyodo news agencies. "I want to go home as soon as possible and eat home-cooked meals."

Horie first made world headlines in 1962 when, at the age of 23, he became the first person to sail solo across the Pacific.

He embarked on the three-month voyage from his hometown of Nishinomiya near Kobe despite breaking Japanese law, which did not allow its citizens to sail on their own out of the country, and without a passport or money.