10/09/2023

In Shipping, a Push to Slash Emissions by Harnessing the Wind

More ships now are running on wind power

One ship was pulled across the sea with the help of an enormous sail that looked as if it belonged to a kite-surfing giant. Another navigated the oceans between China and Brazil this summer with steel and composite-glass sails as high as three telephone poles.

Both harness a natural propellant that oceangoing vessels have depended on for centuries: the wind. And they're part of a growing effort to move the shipping industry away from fossil fuels.

"We want to decarbonize — why not use what’s available?" said Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill Ocean Transportation, which charters about 700 ships. "Wind's free fuel."

Please select this link to read the complete article from The New York Times.