A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
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Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#2When I see a wave foil I wonder how that doesn't make more drag than power...is this similar or something different?
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#3It looks like there's nothing in the way to put something like one of those kite-sails meant for cargo ships on a ship like this one to reduce the fuel needs and hence the carbon footprint even more.
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#4When I see a wave foil I wonder how that doesn't make more drag than power...is this similar or something different?
I assume this works similar in premise to how someone can generate forward momentum by pumping a hydrofoil surfboard like this https://youtu.be/3Ksamgpu2S0
But it looks like this boat isn't using a foil, but rather hydraulic pump based electrical generators inside the boat. The article is short on details on how the design works. They do link to two other foil based propulsion boats though:
https://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2008-02/wave-run...
https://newatlas.com/autonaut-autonomous-unmanned-surface-ve...
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#5It’s honestly a shame that we didn’t keep pursuing sail technology. It’s great that we’re finally getting somewhere environmentally-friendly with ship tech nowadays as in the OP, but if we’d put the same amount of effort to innovate and advance sails like we did steam, I imagine we’d have pretty amazing (and completely green) methods of transport for all but the heaviest cargo loads (and even then, just split the load across multiple ships?).
Of course, nowadays the tech is probably so far behind that the cost of the necessary innovations to “catch up” sails to modern powering methods is completely prohibitive; I guess the environment will continue to take one for the team...
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#6It’s honestly a shame that we didn’t keep pursuing sail technology. It’s great that we’re finally getting somewhere environmentally-friendly with ship tech nowadays as in the OP, but if we’d put the same amount of effort to innovate and advance sails like we did steam, I imagine we’d have pretty amazing (and completely green) methods of transport for all but the heaviest cargo loads (and even then, just split the loa…
I’m genuinely curious, what innovations could there possibly be for sails beyond increasing surface area or either the sails or the keel?
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#7It looks like there's nothing in the way to put something like one of those kite-sails meant for cargo ships on a ship like this one to reduce the fuel needs and hence the carbon footprint even more.
Add a retractable/foldout solar array for low seas and low wind, add solar capture to the sail fabric, add windmills for side/tailwind conditions too.
Would probably need to be part of a hybrid powerplant though, but if you could get even 10-20% efficiency it might pay for itself in shipping where the boats are in service for a long time usually.
Long range shipping, like air travel, is a major hole in low-carbon strategies right now. Biodiesel or fuel-from-excess-solar/wind might be the only other option.
Or thorium powerplants for ships.
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#8It’s honestly a shame that we didn’t keep pursuing sail technology. It’s great that we’re finally getting somewhere environmentally-friendly with ship tech nowadays as in the OP, but if we’d put the same amount of effort to innovate and advance sails like we did steam, I imagine we’d have pretty amazing (and completely green) methods of transport for all but the heaviest cargo loads (and even then, just split the loa…
I’m genuinely curious, what innovations could there possibly be for sails beyond increasing surface area or either the sails or the keel?
I’m no expert, but it’s possible that advances in material science, our understanding of wind & ocean currents, GPS, etc. over the last, what, 150 years? all could massively improve efficiency.
As far as I know, humanity was still improving sailing tech till the steam engine dominated it. I guess my point is that it’s impossible to tell where we could’ve been now without actually having those years of iteration & innovation; the steam engine quickly and abruptly stymied all developments on that front.
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#9It’s honestly a shame that we didn’t keep pursuing sail technology. It’s great that we’re finally getting somewhere environmentally-friendly with ship tech nowadays as in the OP, but if we’d put the same amount of effort to innovate and advance sails like we did steam, I imagine we’d have pretty amazing (and completely green) methods of transport for all but the heaviest cargo loads (and even then, just split the loa…
I’m genuinely curious, what innovations could there possibly be for sails beyond increasing surface area or either the sails or the keel?
I can't imagine there would be that many.
Sails just don't provide all that much motive force, and they're far too unreliable (wind dies down, it doesn't matter how much sail you have.)
Maybe the GP was thinking more along the lines of general 'green' tech -- wind turbines, solar panels, etc? It would certainly be cool to see more of those to supplement existing propulsion systems on ships, and that would help reduce the amount of fuel burned for shipping, which uses some of the dirtiest fractions of petroleum.
Re: A new design ship in the Philippines is partly powered by wave energy
#10I've been long enamored with Philippine boat making. The first time I was asked if I wanted to ride in a canoe, I said no and had horrid flashbacks of tipping over in dirty ponds in the south USA. Theirs, even homemade ones, have stabilizers. Such a simple, but brilliant idea.