Comments on: Kite-Driven Beluga Skysail Completes 12,000 Mile Journey and Proves Concept

By: Econ minor

Econ minor — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:37:45 +0000

Eliminate global trade? What a ridiculous idea. Read up on comparative advantage some time.

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By: Arlene Blummis

Arlene Blummis — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:10:04 +0000

I took a huge dump in the local aquifer after reading Jeff’s comments.

By: guest

guest — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 23:28:17 +0000

hm, never considered heat pump options for shipping power. that could be incorporated into the hull design, and would be dependant only upon sunlight availability. Coupled with devices like this beluga, and windmills, a very significant portion of energy could be conserved. And yes, it is a drop in a bucket, but with enough drops, an empty bucket gets filled. it all adds up. In time, fuel will run out, then what? These are all excellent time-buyers and steps along the journey towards fully renewable energy. Keep up the innovation.

By: Richard Dryden

Richard Dryden — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:50:11 +0000

Congratulations to Skysail for this significant achievement.
Sails also have potential in the realm of wind assistance for commercial vessels. We are developing sail modules with the same goal in mind:
http://www.transitionrig.com/windships.htm
Richard

By: Robert Wilson

Robert Wilson — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:54:03 +0000

All the very best wishes for the future with the skysail.
With the British Serpentine Solar Shuttle being used with photo-voltaic for power, this is great but photo-voltaic is possibly only about 20% efficient, why not use the solar energy to heat water (according to info. they are about 70% efficient) and use this through a convertor to drive the propellor. I don’t know if this would work but an idea anyway.
Robert.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:59:53 +0000

We’ve been following the progress of the Beluga concept since December. The story continues to unfold as the idea is tweaked and improved. Whether it turns out to be “vaporware” is too early to tell, but I don’t really agree that the story is “premature”
The system can save on fuel costs while employed up to 20% depending on a variety of factors including wind speed and direction and if the crew is able to fully deploy the kite. There are plans to test a larger kite with savings of 30% – but again, this is under optimal conditions.

By: 2manycars

2*many*cars — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:26:07 +0000

Where’s the rest of the story? If the first “commercial” voyage is complete,
why talk about “up to” 20% kite savings?
The technology has great promise, but the premature story makes it look like vaporware.

By: Terry

Terry — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:49:21 +0000

Jeff – you’re right it’s only a drop in the bucket, but eliminating “global trade” just aint gonna happen, so no point even mentioning such an idea!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:18:52 +0000

The environmental and ecological problems caused by industrial shipping are numerous. They include consumption and burning of petroleum, making so much noise in the water that it disturbs marine mammals and sometimes makes it impossible for them to communicate, and introduction of non-native species, just to name a few off the top of my head.
While these sails may reduce fuel consumption and burning and while that’s better than nothing, that’s all it is. Global trade is very ecologically harmful and should be eliminated or, at least, greatly reduced. Anything short of that is just tinkering around the edges of a very serious problem.