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Most of these seem pretty gimmicky. I love sailing, and I'd like to see a reduction in the carbon footprint from sea freight, but it's already pretty low per-po
by caymanjim 6y ago
Most of these seem pretty gimmicky. I love sailing, and I'd like to see a reduction in the carbon footprint from sea freight, but it's already pretty low per-pound. It's certainly better than flying cargo.
The total footprint from sea freight is high (3% of global carbon emissions), and the fuel they use is terrible in other ways (it's dirty and carbon isn't the only bad thing emitted). It can't be replaced by sailing, though. Maybe if someone creates a sailing megafreighter, but not by schooners or smaller vessels.
Of everything on that page, the Kwai seems the most pragmatic and the least gimmicky; it's a large vessel and operates in an underserved market. While Tres Hombres is also a large vessel, trans-Atlantic freight is just a silly market to operate in. That's a gimmick to sell expensive "fair trade" goods to niche markets. People are paying a premium to absolve themselves of consumer guilt.
- i_am_proteus 6y agoIt literally could be replaced by sailing, but would be much more expensive, more human-labor-intensive, and less efficient. But it's entirely technically feasible, especially if motors or tugs are used for harbors and channels.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y agoBasically all sailboats that go out on the blue water have an engine for safety reasons.
- corty 6y agoAlso, handling. Landing in a port under sails is extremely difficult, which is why everyone who has a motor uses it for that.
- hchz 6y agoThe largest bulk carriers would need to be replaced by almost 10,000 of the larger of these ships, and 400,000 of the smallest. There are no commercial ports capable of this transition. It's not technically feasible if it would take years to load and unload.
- m3at 6y agoNot as impressive as going fully wind or solar powerered, but there are some initiatives to improve fuel economy by using kite, for example airseas [1] claim to get a 20% improvement with an autonomous kite, and what seem to be limited fitting cost (couldn't find a number). [1] https://www.airseas.com/ https://www.airseas.com/