Science and Technology: Not-so-filthy Rich; Green Mega-yachts  

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[s.n]

Jenis: Article from Bulletin/Magazine
Dalam koleksi: The Economist (http://search.proquest.com/) vol. 399 no. 8731 (Apr. 2011), page 77-78.
Topik: Yachts; Product Design; Innovations; Wind Power; Sailing & Sailboats; Environmental Protection

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: EE29.66 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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Despite the wind-powered image projected by the word, not all modern luxury yachts have sails and those that do rely on their engines during calm weather or when manoeuvring in harbour. Even a medium-sized luxury motor yacht can burn through several hundred litres of diesel an hour while it is at sea. The secret to avoiding gas-guzzling at sea is to go back to the roots of the word "sailing" and extract power from the wind. The difference between the new, green mega-yachts and the sailing vessels of old is that modern batteries mean a proportion of the power can be squirrelled away for future use, and that can reduce running costs in a very welcome way. The design proposed by Paracas Yachts, a new Miami-based company set up by a group of yachting enthusiasts, collects its energy using traditional sails. The company's largest design, the 48-metre-long, three-masted Paracas 158, should be capable of running all of its refrigeration, air-conditioning, lights and other electronics for a week or more without having to start one of its two backup diesel generators or plug into a dockside power source. Sails are not the only way of collecting power from the wind, though. Richard Sauter, of Sauter Carbon Offset Design, based in Bali, has worked out a way to do it from the waves the wind whips up using devices similar to the tuned mass dampers (in essence, giant pendulums) mounted inside some tall buildings to stop them swaying.

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