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submitted 11 months ago by Stamets@startrek.website to c/tumblr@lemmy.world
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[-] vox@sopuli.xyz 91 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

btw cargo ships are already incredibly efficient tho.
even if they produce a ton of co2, when divided by actual amount of goods delivered, they are hundreds of times more efficient than trucks

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 72 points 11 months ago

Yeah, we really should swap out all those trucks crossing the Atlantic with cargo ships.

[-] Steeve@lemmy.ca 16 points 11 months ago

Why don't we just replace all the trucks on the road with cargo ships?

[-] Stamets@startrek.website 45 points 11 months ago

Oh absolutely. But why not make them even more efficient?

[-] SARGEx117@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago

1,000x efficiency is good

100,000x efficiency is better.

Besides, now is the best time to do all the r&d for when fossil fuels are non-existant. Better to figure out how to mixmax wind while you have other options than when you have no choice.

[-] SCB@lemmy.world 36 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

My company makes sustainable packaging, and the primary way we compete as a sustainable bag product for our food grade division is eliminating the CO2 costs associated with shipping overseas (most reusable grocery bags are made in China).

As a result, it takes around 600 of our paper bags to be as bad for the environment as one reusable bag.

While overseas shipping is necessary and as efficient as it can be (so far!), it is still a major greenhouse factor (so far!)

Also everything that touches a container ship ends up on a truck at some point, so there's not really any savings there.

Fingers crossed for the Golden Age of Sail Part 2: Wind Boogaloo, even if it hurts our bag division a bit. The net gain is too good to ignore

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[-] Moneo@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago
[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Kind of hard to send cargo by train across an ocean though...

[-] RickyRigatoni@lemmy.ml 12 points 11 months ago

Ramps. Jump it over the ocean.

[-] vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 5 points 11 months ago

When russia collapses and the US turns Siberia into west Alaska we can just build a bridge across the Bering strait.

[-] Moneo@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Twas in reference to trucks. Highways have replaced rail and so trucks have replaced trains.

[-] kautau@lemmy.world 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah but in the future Arasaka is going to lay a ton of AI controlled mines all over the ocean and lose control of them and ocean travel will be impossible. Oh wait, that’s just a ttrpg and a video game. A corporation would never do something like that in today’s world…

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[-] atocci@kbin.social 57 points 11 months ago

I was ready to mock this, but the more I look into it the more sense it makes.

[-] Stamets@startrek.website 16 points 11 months ago

Honestly I had the same thought process

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[-] sgibson5150@kbin.social 49 points 11 months ago

From the Wikipedia article linked below:

A rotor ship is a type of ship designed to use the Magnus effect for propulsion. The ship is propelled, at least in part, by large powered vertical rotors, sometimes known as rotor sails. German engineer Anton Flettner was the first to build a ship that attempted to tap this force for propulsion, and ships using his type of rotor are sometimes known as Flettner ships.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotor_ship

See also the Magnus effect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect

[-] Alivrah@lemmy.world 33 points 11 months ago

So nice of Magnus to put aside his chess career to help the planet

[-] SkybreakerEngineer@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

Not to mention his career as a chaos demon

[-] new_guy@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

The guy created LazyTown too, so he's good on my books

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[-] flicker@kbin.social 10 points 11 months ago

What an extremely cool thing to learn! And the gifs on the article are very helpful

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[-] yetAnotherUser@lemmy.ca 32 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I know it's just me, but everytime I hear the expression 'What a time to be alive!', I think of the voice of the host of the Two Minute Papers YouTube channel.

Edit: I thought it was just me, but it wasn't just me

[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

I think of this scene:

[-] JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works 9 points 11 months ago

A fellow paper enjoyer!

[-] JTheDoc@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

Hold onto those papers!

[-] sexy_peach@feddit.de 14 points 11 months ago

Isn't it like 20% fuel reduction only? Not insignificant

[-] atocci@kbin.social 24 points 11 months ago
[-] tburkhol@lemmy.world 18 points 11 months ago

There are lots of grand claims for the potential of wind assist on ships, but I suspect they're based on idealized physics and best cases. Actual results seem to be less impressive https://www.ics-shipping.org/news-item/potential-of-wind-assisted-propulsion-hindered-by-perception-and-funding-challenges/

They claim 5-10% fuel savings, which is decent, but not earth shattering. Pyxis, which started operation in August with two big wing-sails, is likely to be the best current practical evidence, but I haven't been able to find any results online. Speculation that it might reduce fuel consumption by 3 tons/day, which is about what you could get just by slow steaming.

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[-] Fleur__@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

Do cargo ships go under bridges?

[-] roboticide@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago

Many do not. Few bridges cross major harbor entrances.

But I've also seen this concept before. The sails retract. If you look closely you can see how they're segmented.

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[-] Kase@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

Certainly not this one

[-] boatsnhos931@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago

Boats with sails?? Blasphemy!! How are they going to stop when they get to the edge??? Argh,me and me mateys need fossil fuels..mo mercury mo problems, ya heard?

[-] mcqtom@lemmy.world 8 points 11 months ago

You sunk my cargoship.

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this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
705 points (98.6% liked)

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