101–110 of 146 posts
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I can't believe scurvy has yet to be mentioned.
Well we have juice boxes for that now. Krakens are still a problem though.
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Could you elaborate on why this is not a method by which carbon emissions can be significantly reduced ? This is only the second boat of a small company, they most likely don't have the ressources to get a bigger one. At this scale, the only way to make money is to move luxury products. IMO it's a good start.
The problem is that carbon emissions come from more than just fuel. You also have to take into account the construction of the ship, the crew, loading/unloading, and pre/post-transport. Best-case scenario, you're looking at a crew of 4 who can transport 6x350T in a year , or 525T / person-year. Meanwhile a container ship has a crew of 20, but it can carry 240.000T, and do in the ballpark of 50 transatlantic crossings…
Everyone is always concerned about scale. But I sometimes wonder if we need to scale down. Are cargo ships full of essential goods or disposable items that will more likely than not enter a landfill without seeing any use at all? We’re really good at over producing items and goods that we don’t need or use. It’s interesting to see businesses try things like this. It might not be efficient or affordable now. But someo…
At end of life, cargo ships are cut up into scrap steel. That scrap is then melted down and re-used to make new steel. I strongly suspect that, if you take into account the energy used to manufacture the ship, sailboats will turn out to have a far higher carbon footprint per ton-mile of shipping than normal cargo ships. Cargo ships, as dirty as they seem on a per-ship basis, are crazy efficient on a per ton-mile basi…
Though, there are already sail technologies you can add to existing shipping. I’m amazed more haven’t been retrofitted, quite frankly.
"Everything from Grain de Sail brand fine chocolates and organic coffee to cosmetic products, wine, and French fashion house luxury goods were on board." So luxury stuff that no one really needs to get from the other side of the world. There is nothing environmentally friendly about useless stuff shipped from a country 10.000km away. Cocoa and coffee obviously doesn't grow in France, so it already came for somewhere…
From the article:
> After the ship leaves New York City on April 15, 2024, Grain de Sail ll will return to France, loaded with various goods. This is the first load of many for the Grain de Sail ll. In total, this vessel plans to sail the seas five times a year, trekking from France to New York and then down through the Caribbean, where the sailboat will dispatch humanitarian aid, working alongside local NGOs. The sailboat will also restock its coffee and cacao supply on its journey through the Caribbean. That supply is then brought back across the sea to France, where the coffee is roasted, and fine chocolates are produced.
You can find more details on their site: https://graindesail-overseas.com/q-a
I can't believe the answer to environmentally friendly wine and chocolate in New York, at least for the size of the market, is really to innovate on how to ship it from France ..?! The coffee and cacao is presumably making its second Atlantic crossing too. And wait, coffee? What are they doing, just roasting it in France? And then it's at minimum 18 days stale by the time you buy it? That's not a premium good at all,…
> The sailboat will also restock its coffee and cacao supply on its journey through the Caribbean. That supply is then brought back across the sea to France, where the coffee is roasted, and fine chocolates are produced.
So, the commodities are taken from the Caribbean region, to France, and back across the Atlantic to NYC.
All so that snobby people can buy wine with the right label and source, so they can pretend to themselves and others that is it all about the taste¹
This is a good place for some serious climate taxes.
A small improvement would be to ship the wine in enormous "plastic bladders" on repurposed oil tankers. Then it can be poured into bottles at the destination.
But wine can be made nearly anywhere. Even in the toilet (Pruno wine)² So you dont need a lot of expensive equipment. If grapes are an issue other fruits and veggies can be used.
Every city should be able to produce lots of it, so buying local would be easy.
¹ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-ta... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_wine_tasting#:~:text=Som....
Everyone is always concerned about scale. But I sometimes wonder if we need to scale down. Are cargo ships full of essential goods or disposable items that will more likely than not enter a landfill without seeing any use at all? We’re really good at over producing items and goods that we don’t need or use. It’s interesting to see businesses try things like this. It might not be efficient or affordable now. But someo…
"Everything from Grain de Sail brand fine chocolates and organic coffee to cosmetic products, wine, and French fashion house luxury goods were on board." So luxury stuff that no one really needs to get from the other side of the world. There is nothing environmentally friendly about useless stuff shipped from a country 10.000km away. Cocoa and coffee obviously doesn't grow in France, so it already came for somewhere…
You think luxury goods are the problem? Theres 8 billion of us... Most of the population eats based on imports. China, a billion people, only produces 60 percent of its own food. Africa, large portions of the Middle East survive on imported grain. Hell what started out as aid to Nigeria is now a delicacy and part of the culture: stock fish. An African nation identifies part of its culture with a Norwegian export. Thi…