Sailboat uses wind power to generate electricity
Well. Well well well. Ah well.
In other news, astronaut-inventor Wubbo Ockels is at it again. For the past five years he has been working on a hybrid, energy-neutral ketch called Ecolution and it is almost ready.
The boat has a diesel engine that drives electric engines that in turn drive the propeller. When the boat is sailing, the process is partly reversed and the propellers generate electrical power which is stored in 10,000 kg of batteries that double as ballast. This Ethereal-like design generates a maximum of 20 kW, and the batteries can store up to 300 kWh, which should be enough to satisfy the hungriest of on-board luxury appliances.
Ecolution is marketed as a sailboat that can be operated by anyone, as computers and electric motors do the heavy lifting.
Anyway, go read the PDF, there’s too much to mention here. The Ecolution will be on display during Hisway 2010 (August) and will then be operated for test runs from Scheveningen until June 2011.
More of Ockel’s inventions:
- A kite powered ocean liner that does Amsterdam – New York in four days.
- A windmill made of hybrid kite-wings.
- A high speed bus.
(Link: Het Kan Wel. Photo: Ecolutions.)
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