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See the original image at telegraph.co.uk —

Kite-Powered Ship Sets Sail for Greener Future

telegraph.co.uk — A cargo ship pulled by a giant, parachute-shaped kite will leave Germany on Tuesday on a voyage that could herald a new "green" age of commercial sailing on the high seas. The owners of the MS Beluga, a 462ft cargo vessel, will try to prove that modern steel ships can harness wind power and reduce their reliance on diesel engines.

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  • Callsorputs, on 01/23/2008, -6/+31I remember when they used to just be called "sails".
    • Callsorputs, on 01/23/2008, -2/+9I should read a little further "no resemblance to sails" just a giant surfing kite
      • ThndrShk2k, on 01/23/2008, -1/+11That uses the same concept of these things called "Sails"
        • theOster, on 01/23/2008, -1/+2not really, sails function as airplane wings, not as drag chutes (well, spinnakers function as chutes, but those aren't sails...)
          • ThndrShk2k, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1They use wind. They use wind for push. The wind pushes the sails, which push/drag the ship. Drag chutes use wind to push, so it can drag.
            Wings use the current speed it already has to produce lift, which is a difference of pressure between the top of the wing and the bottom. Sails use wind itself to create a concentrated force of pressure to push the vessle itself.
          • theOster, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1i don't understand the semantics of your comment...are we talking about whether or not the given apparatus uses its existing speed as an aide? please clarify. i'm talking about this:
            http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/sailing/in ...
            wherein the sail does in fact act in a similar manner as an airplane wing
      • cliffzdude, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1This kite is a very big take on the spinnaker sail, which ironically is also called a "kite" and/or "chute" by sailors. The spinnaker is the big guy sail you see you have seen on America's Cup boats. They're the big ones that deploy out in front of the boat, when the wind is at your back. Sails are not just airfoils, quite the contrary as the spinnaker sail shows us.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinnaker
    • merreborn, on 01/23/2008, -2/+7Sails are on masts, and far smaller than 160 square meters.

      You couldn't possibly build a ship with a 160 square meter sail. The torque on the mast would be insane.
      • zeiben, on 01/23/2008, -2/+2huh huh.... you said torque
      • theOster, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1steel backstays would be fine handling the load...
  • Googler1, on 01/23/2008, -6/+0What if there is no wind?
    • Sigma0, on 01/23/2008, -0/+4It doesn't run with only the kite-sail...see the chart plotting fuel consumption with and without?
    • elcantante, on 01/23/2008, -2/+9Just get the crew to eat baked beans
    • merreborn, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Then they retract it.
  • DeskFlyer, on 01/23/2008, -2/+48Wind-powered ships? Why didn't anyone think of this before??
    • postitnote, on 01/23/2008, -1/+10Some day, we will have ships powered solely by wind! But that's just a pipe dream. Sigh.
      • xutopia, on 01/23/2008, -1/+7Or fires inside the hull to power giant turbines!
    • kahlessreborn, on 01/23/2008, -1/+2I think they had this in Water World but then again who watched that movie?
    • speedyrev, on 01/23/2008, -1/+2My exact comment from when it made the front page a couple of days ago. I got like 80+ diggs.
    • merreborn, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3It's impossible to use a classic masted sale on a cargo ship -- you need an incredibly large sail to move something that large -- the torque on the mast makes such an idea impractical. The idea of using a kite was a critical innovation.
    • pintomp3, on 01/23/2008, -1/+2what will they think of next? slave-powered ships?
    • dmarquard, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1They did. It made the front page the other day...before this REPEAT.
  • Error601, on 01/23/2008, -1/+8Same concept of a sail be designed to work with cargo ships that don't have room for the massive masts that would be required. It's an interesting idea if it works. Shipping companies would jump on anything that would reduce fuel cost. I kind of wonder how the line can be strong enough to pull the ship yet not be so heavy all the wind power is needed to keep the cable in the air.
    • Shizlanski, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Because the cable is made out of carbon nanotubes/carbon polymers. Extremely strong and very light.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube
      • RicktheBrick, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1The article you linked to states that the carbon nanotubes can be made to length of several milimeters. It stated that they might get a process to make one to any length desired. A major breakthrough like that would be far more important than the kite. I would think that if they can make one that is say 1000 feet long than they could make one 60,000 miles long and make a space elevator. I think they are using something else.
      • theOster, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1even steel cables have remarkable tensile strength for small cross sectional areas...
  • mark076h, on 01/23/2008, -0/+4i want to see some actual pictures of this thing.
  • bemyokono, on 01/23/2008, -3/+27dupe as of 2 days ago
    http://www.digg.com/environment/The_amazing_kite_w ...
  • MrWally, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3This is one of the most modern, innovative ideas I've read about for years.

    Ships harnessed by the wind? Who would have thought. We are on the eve of an industrial and technological revolution!
  • ControlcChris, on 01/23/2008, -3/+1wtf?
  • x626, on 01/23/2008, -1/+4Duplicate...
  • Waterproof, on 01/23/2008, -0/+16OH BOY NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE
  • Zlorp, on 01/23/2008, -2/+3zomg! [insert sarcastic sail remark here]
  • Alestro, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3This was in the top 10 just a few days ago... But still a cool story for those who haven't seen it.
  • vertigoblue, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2Water World?
  • koolkeith987, on 01/23/2008, -8/+1Just like back in the day, but with out a fatty engine, or a bunch of containers....To bad bush is going to ***** it up some how
    • cavergeek, on 01/23/2008, -0/+3What the hell will Bush have to do with this German project? Please tell me how you escaped the snare of survival of the fittest.
      • CraigJ, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1"escaped the snare of survival of the fittest" gonna have to appropriate this for future use...
  • elcantante, on 01/23/2008, -3/+4Why not just harness a few sea-horses to the ships?
  • Rhenthalin, on 01/23/2008, -5/+5I saw this on tv once then I killed a kitten and ate a pizza
  • orangefly, on 01/23/2008, -4/+1next they'll be rowing....
  • fearstriken, on 01/23/2008, -2/+2No one respects you for getting a duplicate story to the front page
  • Paulk501, on 01/23/2008, -0/+6drawing a picture of a ship useing it is not gona help the environment
  • kiwimonk, on 01/23/2008, -0/+4Overall idea is nice, but there are many obstacles.. If it looses wind.. it crashes.. and the ship will probably run it over. It needs to relaunch from the water.. not easy to do.. Also, you have to be going in the direction of the wind... Also.. If the wind changes while its out.. you have a huge long cable probably knocking cargo containers overboard... Launching the kite will no doubt be dangerous.. You would almost have to shoot it into the air with some kind of a charge... since the cargo will likely block most of the tail wind.

    Anything is possible ;)
    • dusanmal, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2Looking at the design and reading a small inset in the picture: computer controls it if the wind changes direction and it is not a simple kite - it is a wing that can be oriented to make use of many possible wind directions (old-fashioned sails do that too). My guestimate is that similar restrictions on the wind direction apply as to the ordinary sails (ex. you can't drive directly into the wind, etc.).
    • drlog, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1From what I understood, the kite can do figure of 8s and thus you can drive into the wind (sailing ships can go into the wind by zigzaging).

      It could be a good idea - more versatile than a sail!
  • admantor, on 01/23/2008, -1/+5i thought the title said "Kittie powered ship..."

    damn
  • AndrewMB, on 01/23/2008, -7/+1wow, isn't this the stupidest ***** thing I have ever seen.
  • whiteknives, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2This topic is hitting the front page almost as often as xkcd.
  • scoottie, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Anybody else think of Final Fantasy when you started to read this?
  • essex77, on 01/23/2008, -2/+2LOL - you guys are pretty funny. But seriously though... If this works it could be big news. I hear they are slicing bread now :)
    • cavergeek, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Kite powered ships I buy, but come on, pre-sliced bread? You and your whacky conspiracies.
  • ictharus, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1yay, more tabloid diggs =)
  • kpeatt, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1I've always wondered if any one has ever done an analysis on the impact of wind power on the environment. What are we hurting by stealing this energy? Gotta be something.
  • ryancalderoni, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1this boat will not get very far, which is good for the environment
  • Emachine, on 01/23/2008, -0/+4They should attach a kite to a Prius to get some extra MPGs.
  • obxjdt, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1I saw something about this on TV not too long ago. Why not just add rigid vertical sails???
    • cavergeek, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1The article talks about how the force of the wind is stronger as you increase elevation. The higher up the sail/kite, the more power available to pull the ship.
      • obxjdt, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1Yeah, but it's not feasible... 3-4 rigid vertical sail vs. 3-4 high kites... The sails can be plained for the wind, kites have no option but to ride the wind.
        If you're heading SW and the wind is SE a kite is useless. You can set a soft/ridged sail to use the cross wind. A kite is dragged by the wind on a single line/anchor point, and forces more extreme tacking.
        In theory it's a great idea.
  • JusticeAK, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1I'll stick with fedex.
  • br0wnstar, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1Did you also know that there's a 7'7 basketball player?! How crazy is that!

    He has bad knees though.
  • RoboDonut, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1This is the perfect example of why digg doesn't work.
    Duplicate of a story that was posted a day or two ago.
    Both even made front page.
    • tvon, on 01/23/2008, -0/+2For some unknown reason, the other article was a link directly to the graphic and not the actual story.
  • ashwinmudigonda, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1The thing is, unlike Europe, the corporate America, with profits rabidly dogging their eyes, will only invest and CONTINUE to invest in such technologies as long as it is detrimental to them. They don't give a rat's ***** about the oil prices and how it affects the common man. As long as it doesn't affect their economy, they are not interested. Thus, I expect, AGAIN, for Europe to take lead and proceed with a prototype and hopefully convince China to use it when they ship their lead filled toys to the rest of the world.
    • cavergeek, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Wow, what an accurate prediction. Amazing how you foresaw production of this "prototype" kite ship only half a day after it set off on its journey to Venezuela.
  • unpolloloco, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1I thought this was being done with oil tankers back in the 80's - and met with great success
    Why hasnt this caught on more since then, and why is this big news?
  • cawfee, on 01/23/2008, -0/+0I read "kitten-powered ship" and went WHAT.
  • bigwrestlerguy, on 01/23/2008, -1/+1Dugg down for it being a dupe story, and 160 square meter sail is not big enough. Back in the day of sail, there was much more than 200 square meters of sail area on 2 different masts. Also, a 426 foot container ship is fairly small by todays standards
  • darrenpauli, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Why are online publications graffiting articles with those big ***** ads mid-way through a story so the text is crammed into a 4cm space? Why should online standards be so much lower than print editions?
  • rkzda, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1Today is tuesday, we are in the internet age, so where is the updated article, including video and pics?
  • madbadger, on 01/23/2008, -0/+1I hope Charlie Brown isn't piloting that ship.
  • wangchongnice, on 01/23/2008, -0/+0What are we hurting by stealing this energy? Gotta be something.
  • flipflop24, on 01/24/2008, -0/+0Back to the colombus way of life....
  •  

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