THE RETURN OF COMMERCIAL SAIL

2007-01-10

Richard Moore

Original source URL:
http://www.edge.org/q2007/q07_4.html#dysong

GEORGE DYSON
Science Historian; Author, Project Orion

THE RETURN OF COMMERCIAL SAIL

I am optimistic about the return of commercial sail. Hybrid 
sail/electric vessels will proliferate by harvesting energy from the 
wind.

Two near-inexhaustible energy sources-sunlight and the angular 
momentum of the rotating earth-combine, via the atmosphere, to 
produce the energy flux we know as wind. We have two well-proven 
methods of capturing this energy: windmills and sailing ships. 
Windmills are real-estate limited, since most available land surface 
is already spoken for, and distribution-limited since wind-swept 
areas tend to be far from where large concentrations of people live. 
Sailing ships turn wind energy directly into long-distance transport, 
but the practice was abandoned in an era of cheap fuel. The prospects 
deserve a second look. It is possible to not only conserve, but even 
accumulate, fuel reserves by sailing around the world.

Modern sailing vessel design, so far, has been constrained by two 
imperatives: racing (for sport or against commercial competition) and 
ability to sail upwind. Under favorable conditions sails produce far 
more horsepower than is needed to drive a ship. At marginal sacrifice 
in speed, by running the auxiliary propulsion system in reverse, this 
energy can be stored for later use. Hybrid vessels, able to store 
large amounts of energy-in conventional batteries, in flywheels, or 
by disassociation of seawater-would be free to roam the world.

The trade winds constitute an enormous engine waiting to be put to 
use. When oil becomes expensive enough, we will.
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