Cargo ships pump millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. From 2022, some will swap fossil fuels for wind power, reports Wired.
Wind Network
TransOceanic Wind Transport (TOWT), a small cargo company based in France, is now scaling up to transport tens of thousands of tonnes per year.
Founded in 2011, TOWT has already transported over 1,000 tonnes of cargo across the ocean using small sailing ships.
Now, the company is building four larger sail ships, which will travel on four maritime routes between Europe and destinations including New York, Guadeloupe, Brazil, and the Ivory Coast. “and the sail is the best way to harness it and to move heavy haul over long distances.”
Alternative of Carbon
Each ship will carry 1,100 tonnes of cargo, says Le Grand, around ten times the capacity of the current largest sail cargo boats in operation.
Every year, the conventional shipping industry pours some 600 to 700 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – around the same as Germany and about 2-3 percent of global CO2 emissions.
“The only energy at sea is the wind.”
Diana’s Straightforwardness
The firm already has orders worth over 100 million euros from some 30 companies who want to transport everything from cocoa and coffee to wine and champagne – and are willing to pay that bit extra to tell their customers the products arrived via a low-carbon ship.
“We always tell the public by a little label and a number how the goods have been transferred,” says Diana Mesa, co-founder of TOWT.
Provisions
Each ship accommodates 12 passengers alongside 7 crew members contributing an extra source of income. One coffee roaster even wants to put a Willy Wonka-style golden ticket for a voyage in one of its coffee bags.
”Everyone will know that if you buy that coffee, you might one day end up with a ticket to cross the ocean and back to Colombia where the coffee comes from.”
Wind Power
Costa Rica-based SailCargo is close to finishing its first wooden sailing ship that will carry some 250 tonnes of goods between North and South America using only wind power and an electric engine.
Wind should be a big part of decarbonizing shipping, says Aoife O’Leary, director of international shipping at the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
“For every nautical mile you can sail with the wind, you’re saving yourself on a ridiculously expensive alternative fuel.”
However, 100 percent of sailing ships may play more of a niche role, she says, with more widespread changes in the use of wind technologies seen on conventional cargo ships.
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Source: Wired
