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Could this signal a sea change for sail?

beluga skysails seite

Nail biting oil prices are going to drive us mad one day and that is not too far. Just wait and watch once oil strikes $100 a barrel, things are gonna get real panicky. Trying wind power, solar power and what not, have to start from the scratch, no doubt. Companies like SkySails in Hamburg, Germany are manufacturing kites the size of football fields deployed with a flexible cable. At 1,000 feet above sea level, these kites can catch winds up to 50% stronger than at the surface. The engineers, from the Hamburg Company SkySails, are testing the potential of high-tech kites to pull a ship across the ocean by hitching a ride on winds high above the waves.

Researchers say by doing so, will help slash fuel consumption by as much as 50 percent under optimal conditions. Cutting back the amount of fuel burned also curbs emissions of greenhouse gases. By some estimates, the shipping industry discharges twice as much carbon dioxide as air traffic. Video after the jump

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Via: Got2BeGreen

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