A catamaran equipped with solar panels has completed the first-ever solar transatlantic crossing. The Swiss team behind the feat, Transatlantic21, said the 14 meter boat produced 2,000 kilowatt hours of solar energy.
The boat traveled over 7,000 miles using the sun’s energy to power an electric motor. Any surplus juice was stored in the on board batteries. The boat’s skipper, Michael Thonney, declared that such an experiment proves alternatives exist and that nuclear power “is not the answer”. From the article,
“This proves that in our modern society it is indeed possible to travel the world efficiently and still safeguard the environment,’ said Michel Thonney. ‘This has been a liberating journey and one which I believe will transform the way we approach travel on our oceans, seas and waterways.”
According to research by the shipping industry and European academics, carbon dioxide emissions from shipping are double those of aviation and increasing at an alarming rate which will have a serious impact on global warming. The rise in emissions may be as much as 75% over the next 15-20 years! In attempting to avoid this, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation recently to curb emissions spewed by ships using diesel fuel. Other countries around the world have instituted similar restrictions.
A ship that can run on solar is a phenomenal feat, but obviously, catering that to a massive super tanker or cargo transport would be difficult. A transition to biofuels would be welcome, but even better would be developing transport that could pull hydrogen from the water to power a fuel cell. There could be an array of panels on board to assist with the production of the hydrogen. Simple, right? Yea, well, it’s easy to speculate on technology that hasn’t even been developed yet. Still, efficient shipping is something the world should be paying closer attention to. Oil will not be around forever and nuclear technology is still an unfavorable choice for commercial use. The future still appears as a giant question mark. Have any thoughts?
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