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Solar at Sea: Chinese Cargo Ships Will Have Solar Sails

dailygalaxy.com — The Australian company, Solar Sailor, has signed a deal with the largest Chinese shipping line COSCO to outfit their tankers with large solar-powered sails controlled by a computer that angles them for maximum wind and solar efficiency and the company claims that the sails will pay for themselves within four years.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 11, 2008

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  • Dinsdale77, on 11/11/2008, -1/+25What's next, some crazy wind-powered, sheet-like device?
  • Riatsala, on 11/10/2008, -1/+13Interesting that it's wind which really makes them worth while, reducing fuel costs by 20 to 40 percent. This looks like progress but it's actually a step back in time!
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -0/+10cept they would have to be awesome techno pirates who smuggle IP
  • jasdf, on 11/11/2008, -0/+9Sails make perfect sense as long as they can be automated so that it doesn't require an enormous crew to run them.
  • palmer, on 11/11/2008, -1/+9This will make it much more affordable to transport tankers full of melamine to our pets and infants!
  • Rasma, on 11/11/2008, -1/+9I hope pirates come back next.
  • artofficial, on 11/11/2008, -0/+7The operative word being "solar."
  • ripple123, on 11/11/2008, -0/+7ships.. with sails? whatever shall we call them?
  • Shaggy3, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4"Arrr fire the solar cannons to confuse their navigation systems!"
  • sassafras1232, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4The hijacking of the term "solar sail" is kind of annoying to me. A solar sail is a large, lightweight mirror used to move space craft around using the minute pressure exerted by reflecting photons back towards the sun.

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

    Also, the kite sails that other company wants to start using are much cooler.
  • fishgeekva, on 11/11/2008, -1/+4I would think that having sails like those pictured would really interfere with the amount of cargo you could carry.
  • socialexpert, on 11/10/2008, -1/+4Solar sails have been the stuff of dreams for years.
  • brandita, on 11/11/2008, -1/+4How do they hold up in high winds? is it some kind of flexible pvs?
  • M2i1k6e, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3Great idea but.......Captain Nemo's ship is still cooler...
  • rusty123jimi, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3It's kind of sad that we don't see more of this innovation from the US anymore...what happened to the good old days when we actually did things progressively? It kind of makes me miss 90's America a bit...
  • Czaja, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3Dugg for Idiocracy reference.
  • schrutefan, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3OMG. COSCO = COSTCO. It makes perfect sense now... they've already won.
  • Murdats, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3I imagine it would be a trade off if they don't both coincide. it would calculate the angle needed to save the most power given the angle to the wind and sun.
  • RudeTurnip, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3Who would win in a fight....techno pirates or Techno Viking?
  • swern425, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2Not on container ships. Every inch of space is dedicated to moving as many containers as possible.
  • palmer, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1RTFA
  • Vosona, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1I hardly see how. Cargo is carried belowdecks, right?
  • randomstupid, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2our who ?
  • swern425, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1"It seems as though China is slowly but aggressively moving into a position of leadership in the transition to a global green economy."

    Last night's 60 Minutes story on recycling gone wrong in Hong Kong begs to differ.
  • alclone, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2Solar sails?!

    Man next thing you know they are going to have jetpacks.
    Honestly, their government is the *****. Even though they ***** over people with tons of firewalls, they know to kill corrupt politicians and evil CEOs.
  • grylls, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Awesome.
  • tkotam, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1Using renewable energy to transport non-renewable energy?? Crap.

    My head is going to asssssplode...
  • Murdats, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1as they are designed to rotate according to the wind, if the wind is too high they could just turn parallel to the wind
  • brotherfranciz, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1This is a dupe, the older one links to a better article with more info:

    http://digg.com/environment/Solar_Sailor_Sun_Sails ...
  • beabis, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1A 20 to 40 percent fuel savings from sails sounds like fantasy to me. And how could the sails be simultaneously aimed to catch both maximum wind and maximum sun?
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1China = POWER, get it? Solar, power...
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1In China they are still maintaing and even building steam powered trains. The reason is simply they have this crazy notion that to be totally dependent on one energy source, like the USA is wilth oil, is to invite dissaster. This just another of the goverments to remain a viable nation if it should find itself cut off from oil.
  • thegrantman, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Our CCC:
    Country,
    Corporation
    Church
  • marky125, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1"It seems as though China is slowly but aggressively moving into a position of leadership in the transition to a global green economy."

    Uh, isn't "slowly but aggressively" an oxymoron?
    "I'm going to slowly but aggressively stab you in the face"
  • zakatov, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1speed =! force
  • danj484, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1China's kinda schitzo in that regard, they have an entirely "green" city (http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_32 ... this crazy solar-panel sail idea, then offset it with horrendous chemical runoff and coal burning.

    P.S. The green city's called Dongtan, and that's hilarious.
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1I got my law degree at COSCO
  • zakatov, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Well then they'll use em on tankers only for now.
  • zakatov, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1At least they're trying. Props to them.
  • daeus, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1We still have pirates
  • elnerdo, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Yeah, but the solar part of them is almost useless. It provides 5% of the ship's necessary electricity. Ships don't need much electricity to begin with. Most of the fuel goes to propulsion. The wind part of it, on the other hand, can provide for 20 to 40% of the needed propulsion.
  • blitzkriegpunk, on 11/11/2008, -1/+1Yeah... I know.
  • Fustigations, on 11/12/2008, -0/+0Where there are pirates there are ninjas. They're a quantumly entangled pair. Be careful what you wish for!
  • palmer, on 11/11/2008, -2/+1Except it's Costco.
  • cowsgonemadd3, on 11/11/2008, -3/+1Sails....they already use them. They have been on digg several times.
  • thegrantman, on 11/11/2008, -6/+4Our country should have come up with this.
  • inactive, on 11/11/2008, -4/+1Why call them "sails"? Because they won't do any "sailing" at all. Just say these tankers will have solar panels installed.
  • blitzkriegpunk, on 11/11/2008, -5/+2Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
    Welcome to Cosco... I love you.
  • nigelmansell, on 11/11/2008, -6/+1the Chinese doesn't care too much on maintenance budget. So within 4 years the metal mast will rust away and waiting for an accident to happen.

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