Wind is terrific. It’s showing to be one of the most beneficial forms of renewable energy of our generation and is assisting nations lower dependence on coal and nonrenewable fuel sources to produce power.
When it pertains to wind, for the most part we require to utilize massive turbines to transform moving air into kinetic energy that can then be converted into electrical energy utilizing inverters and generators. That power then finds its method directly to the grid to charge our electric cars and boats, or we can store it in batteries to utilize later.
That’s all type of troublesome, it takes a lot of time and energy to develop wind farms and infrastructure, which then comes with a maintenance overhead. Picture if we might harness the power of wind straight.
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Consider it, why invest all that time and money when we can just have our cars or boats moved forward by the wind?
We might put big pieces of product, like repaired kites, to catch the wind and drag ourselves forward. That’s what one group of Swedish engineers has done with its latest car transporting sea vessel.
A Swedish consortium including the KTH Royal Institute of Innovation in Stockholm, maritime consultancy SSPA, and lead by ship designers Wallenius Marine has developed the wind Powered Car Provider, or wPCC for short.
It’s a transatlantic ship efficient in carrying approximately 7,000 vehicles and reducing emissions for the crossing by 90%. And it’s powered directly by wind. Take a look at those huge fins on top of it, I’m going to call them sails.
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The consortium reckons that the wPCC should be prepared for its maiden cruising trip by2024 Hopefully, it’ll still be windy already.
The only disadvantage of utilizing wind power is that it will take about twice as long to cross the Atlantic. Generally, freight ship journeys take 7 days, the wPCC would take about 12.
For security factors, and for getting in and out of harbor, the boat does have extra engines. It appears the boat’s designers are yet to totally nail down this aspect, however it will hopefully utilize electric motors to keep its sustainable principles.
Designers state its 200 meters long, 40 meters broad, and 100 meters high, including the sails. That’s a little much shorter than the typical container ship, however far taller. The sails themselves are about 80 meters high.
If you want to follow the development of the wPCC, you can keep up to date over on the Wallenius Marine blog
While the consumer world is advancing to cleaner forms of transport, the business world is still lagging behind, particularly sea-bound haulage. It’s great to see such development to create sustainable transportation of the future.
Honestly, I can’t think we didn’t think about this quicker. Oh, wait …
HT– The Driven
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Released September 10, 2020– 11: 15 UTC.