Our consumer economy severely overtaxes planetary resources. Ideally, we would begin shifting from creating artificial demand through incessant advertising and from built-in obsolescence to more durable and repairable products and more thoughtful purchasing. Research shows that spending more time in nature, and doing more educational, artistic, social, and spiritual activities leads to more well-being and happiness. In the near term, we need to cut back on carbon emissions and resource intensity connected with our consumerism.
Ninety percent of the world’s goods are transported by sea, using mostly diesel fuel. Shipping constitutes 3 percent of all global emissions. In Santa Barbara County, shipping through the channel is the biggest contributor to local air pollution. Interest is growing, however, to change our shipping systems. The United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) began this year to grade each ship on cargo carrying capacity and carbon dioxide emissions per nautical mile. The worst rated will be required to take corrective action or forced to cease operation. The IMO’s goal is zero emissions by 2050. The European Union’s Emissions Trading System is requiring shippers to start paying for their carbon emissions starting next year.
For more than a decade, some cargo and tanker ships have been experimenting with wind-assisted propulsion as a means of reducing fuel consumption. Of the 30-plus ships piloting such technologies, most are using some form of movable wind wings made from metal and fiberglass. The articulations are fully automated. The concepts have been mostly adopted from high-tech racing boats.
A French startup is shifting the paradigm even more. It is presenting a solution that is both novel and based on centuries-old technology. It has built a totally wind-powered cargo ship that has just completed its first transatlantic voyage. Because of recent advances in meteorological modeling, satellite communications, and routing technologies, it can harness winds for reliable propulsion and commercial viability. By using carbon-fiber masts (both lighter and stronger), it can double the area of sails, capture more wind, and significantly increase propulsion. It doesn’t need a team of sailors to manage the rigging; instead, a single remote controller deploys its 30,000 square feet of sail.
The company has already built a second ship and has orders for six more. At present, the container capacity is only about a twentieth of large cargo ships. It will undoubtedly increase as have electrical wind turbines. Rates are slightly higher, but those who are shipping are often willing to pay a little more to reduce their carbon footprint. Moreover, wind-powered shippers can offer long-term, fixed-price contracts, thus avoiding the wild price fluctuations of fossil-fuel shipping.
It has been more than a century since the last transoceanic cargo shipping powered by wind. It seems possible, however, that wind power may be the future of marine shipping.
