Touring the Alcatraz Island will soon go green. The visitors will be carried to Alcatraz by two ferries – the hybrid ones, interestingly powered by the wind and sun. The National Park Service and Hornblower Cruises and Events have jointly decided on it under a new ten-year multi-million dollar contract.
Two brand new hybrid-electric passenger vessels will be built to ferry the visitors to the island. And this will help maximize the use of solar and wind energy, leading to zero emissions at the wharf. The project has decided to build the first within two years, followed by the second to be built by year five.
Designed by Solar Sailor and modeled on the Solar Sailor ferry in Sydney, Australia, the hybrid vessels in the winning proposal by Hornblower.
Teri Shore, director of Bluewater Network’s Clean Vessels campaign said, Riding one of these ferries will be like switching from a gas-guzzling SUV to a hybrid car… The ferries will get far better mileage and pollute half as much because they will run on electricity or sail much of the time… Network introduced the Solar Sailor concept to ferry planners on the Bay five years ago and have been lobbying for such a vessel ever since.
Via: GreenBiz
