Why shipping is turning back to sails for a greener future
If left unchecked, shipping could account for almost a fifth of global emissions by 2050. But modern wind propulsion technologies might help the industry decarbonize. Tire manufacturer Michelin has designed giant inflatable sails (pictured here in a rendering) that can be fitted to existing cargo ships, and inflate or deflate at the push of a button -- making it easy for the ship to enter a harbor or pass under a bridge.
Courtesy Michelin
So far, Michelin has only tested a miniature version of its design on a 40-foot yacht (pictured), but it hopes to enter full-scale production in 2022. The company says the sails, which work in tandem with the ship's engine, could reduce fuel consumption by 20%.
Courtesy Michelin
UK-based BAR Technologies has designed 150-foot-tall rigid sails, to be retrofitted on cargo ships (pictured here in a rendering). The company, which has a deal with US shipping giant Cargill to install its sails on a bulk cargo ship by 2022, says it will increase the vessel's fuel efficiency by more than 25%.
Courtesy BAR Technologies
Rigid sails, which look more like aircraft wings than traditional cloth sails, are also being installed on Oceanbird, a transatlantic car carrier (seen here in a rendering) that is due to set sail in 2024. It will rely mostly on wind power, cutting carbon emissions by 90%.
Courtesy Oceanbird
French company TOWT (TransOceanic Wind Transport) also depends almost entirely on wind power and will launch its first fleet of industrial-scale cargo ships in 2023. The vessels (pictured here in a rendering) will carry cocoa, coffee, champagne, sugar and other goods across four maritime routes. Each ship will be equipped with smart tracking systems so that high-end clients can monitor shipments and see how much carbon emissions they are saving.
Courtesy H&T
Rotors -- vertical cylinders that spin with the wind and create a forward motion -- are another type of wind propulsion technology being deployed on cargo ships. In 2018, Finnish company Norsepower installed two of its rotors on the 800-foot-long Timberwolf (formerly Maersk Pelican) tanker. During the first year of operation, fuel savings of 8% were recorded.
Courtesy Norsepower
British company Anemoi Marine installed four of its 16-meter-tall rotors on the m/v Afros bulk carrier. On one of its regular routes from Nantong to Vancouver and back, the estimated savings were 12.5% -- a reduction of 73 tons of fuel and 235 tons of CO2.
Courtesy Anemoi Marine Technologies
Another wind technology that has been floated is kites, which would fly ahead of the vessel and help to tow it. German company SkySails tested its kite technology and found that it could save an average of 10 to 15% in fuel every year. The benefit is that they don't take up much deck space, which is especially important on container ships, but launch and recovery can be more complicated.
