Go fly a kite! GE teams with shipper to cut fuel costs

walter8529

GE Reports | Your source for what's happening at GE.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Go fly a kite! GE teams with shipper to cut fuel costs                                                                    
From ecomagination engines burning landfill gas to “treasure hunts” inside our factories that seek out energy waste, we’ve been presenting a steady drumbeat of GE fuel efficiency stories. This time, we’re turning to our colleagues at Beluga Shipping — a GE preferred shipper — and their amazing use of “kite sails” to reduce fuel costs and help the environment. Who knew that in the 21st century, GE’s advanced engines would literally be sailing to their ports of call?

Come sail away! With wind ever-present on the high seas, especially across the world’s primary shipping routes, Beluga decided to harness it — resulting in a sustainable, cost-effective method to slash fuel costs during long ocean voyages. The SkySails system consists of three simple main components: a towing kite with rope, a launch and recovery system, and a control system for automatic operation.
Chartered by GE’s Project Logistics team, the Beluga SkySails cargo vessel — which has the world’s first practical towing kite propulsion system for commercial shipping — set sail in early February from Albany, New York. It was loaded with 250 to 300 tons of power generating equipment that was manufactured at GE’s plant in Schenectady, NY and was was destined for Samsun, Turkey.
In open water, the cargo ship releases a large towing kite attached to its bow. The kite resembles a parasail and floats high above the ship to help pull it through the water. At present, SkySails can be attached to cargo vessels with an effective load of between eight and 16 tons — SkySails with an effective load of 32 tons are planned for 2012.

Tow-rrific tech: Samsun project team members, including Deepak Parashar, Joe Picciocchi, and Laurie Murling, had the opportunity to board the vessel and meet with SkySail engineers to understand more about the technology and it’s ecological impact. “Our team believes it is everybody’s responsibility, personal and professional, to think green and leverage every opportunity in support of ecomagination,” said GE’s Randy Charboneau, Manager, Logistics Thermal Americas.
Lower costs can be realized through less fuel consumption — and the fuel savings depend on the prevailing wind conditions. A ship’s average fuel costs can be reduced by 10 to 35 percent annually, but under optimal wind conditions up to 50 percent can be cut. On average, using the SkySails system leads to a 39 percent savings in freight costs.

Send it soaring: The ship transports GE’s large generators, gas turbines, and steam turbines.
Reduced fuel consumption leads to less emissions — and implementing wide-scale use of kite propulsion systems could potentially reduce millions of tons of CO2, NOX, and SO2 from the atmosphere. Noted GE’s Randy Charboneau: “This is one way we (GE) are leveraging the technology of our suppliers worldwide to help with (environmental) efforts.”

The answer, my friend: Current estimates indicate that shipping is responsible for more than 7 percent of the worldwide emissions of sulfur dioxide, with a total of 10 million tons per year.
Does this mean commercial shipping is going back to the days of huge rigs and oversized galleons? Not quite. The technology is still in its exploratory phase, so use of SkySails on a large scale is still a few years away. Even so, increased operating costs and the rising price of oil are pushing the shipping industry to further utilize this new technology — with  future projects planning to use kites with a larger sail surface, leading to better efficiencies.
* Visit the SkySails website
* Read background materials about the SkySails system
* Learn about the European Union’s wind propulsion project
* Learn more about Beluga Group in their online magazine
* Learn more about GE Energy in these GE Reports stories
* Read about our energy “treasure hunts”
To watch a video about the Beluga system in use, visit Beluga’s press page and click on “Multimedia.”
                                            
                                                                    Tagged as: ecomagination, Energy
                        March 2, 2010 at 12:07 pm

RP2

Seen this long time ago