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I would have guessed that a person in a sailboat was more energy efficient.
by criddell 4y ago
I would have guessed that a person in a sailboat was more energy efficient.
- WalterBright 4y agoI doubt it. Pushing water out of the way is never very efficient. A sailboat appears to be efficient because it is harvesting wind power and not counting that.
- lupire 4y agoA bicycle is also harvesting the construction of the road and not counting that. Sail might still be less efficient in the amortized average, though.
- WalterBright 4y agoA bicycle does not harvest energy from the road.
- criddell 4y agoI think they are saying the bicycle needs a hard, smooth road and that takes a lot of energy to produce. If a special single-use road was required, then maybe they would have a point.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- hinkley 4y agoYou would be surprised. I was always astounded by how easy it was to push my friends’ sailboat by hand. With them and their gear on board that boat was around three metric tons.
- travisjungroth 4y agoPower to overcome drag increases at a cube. If you were pushing it a half knot, 10 knots would require 8,000 times the power.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- WalterBright 4y agoThere's no breakout friction with a boat. This means you can move enormous weight with just steady pressure. It doesn't really have anything to do with efficiency.
- criddell 4y agoIt depends on the task. What’s the most energy efficient way of getting 20 tons of material from Chicago to L.A.? Is it a peloton with panniers?
- fullsend 4y agoReminds me of Alan Watts - the way is to go with the flow. Instead of building a motor, hoist a sail. Instead of sending a rocket, build a telescope. Etc.
- thombat 4y agoDoes require you to limit your goals: what if you want to see the far side of the moon? (Substitute goal: listen to "Dark Side of the Moon")