Now this is claimed as the great innovation by the wind & shipping industry. I generally am not at all critical of any technology that is remotely good for the environment. I always believe that it is easy to be critical & that the world should be a place that is more willing to give. When something new comes along, we have to back it & give it a chance. So generally I love to pitch in a good word for anything that remotely also saves power, rid of plastic & batteries, help the earth get greener & reduce greenhouse gases. But here is a new technology, which to me seems a bit of rehash of the past.
“Kiteships” is what these things are called. The concept is simple. Take a huge kite (more like a parachute) & attach it to few strings & then tag them up to a ship. Now the inventors of this claim that it saves a lot of energy; as we use the power of the wind. But what is so new about this? These people took a sail & put it in air to get more air into the sail; so to speak. It’s just like your old ships from “Sindbad”, but now the sail has got better, fancier & is in the air. But still, it’s a way forward so I guess it’s worth a mention, it surely saves energy, but it is not really that new. Just old wine in a new bottle; or should I say-An old sail with new strings.
