Old-School Wind Power Is Back for Cargo Shipping

livemint.com:

Could sails make a comeback for cargo ships on the high seas? Major players in maritime shipping, looking for ways to cut carbon emissions and save on fuel, are trying out new ways to use old-fashioned wind power. But the devices being tested on some bulk freighters are far from old-fashioned—more like high-tech airplane wings than the canvas sails that once powered schooners and sloops. One version is the “WindWings" device developed by the Minneapolis-based agricultural giant Cargill and BAR Technologies, a U.K.-based company that has designed boats and advanced sails for the America’s Cup race.

The automated sails, built by Norway’s Yara Marine Technologies and designed to be used with existing engines, were retrofitted onto a ship called the Pyxis Ocean. It recently sailed its first voyage helped by the wind, from dry dock in Shanghai, China to the Port of Singapore; then on to Paranaguá, Brazil; and finally to the Port of Gdynia in Poland. It’s now on its second route.

Jan Dieleman, president of Cargill Ocean Transportation—the division responsible for operating the hundreds of ships that make up the company’s maritime shipping fleet—talked with the Journal’s Future of Everything podcast about adding wind into the mix for cargo shipping. Where did the idea for using wind-assist on your cargo ships come from? We actually started experimenting with wind more than 10 years ago. We tried with kites, and it was an interesting exercise, which didn’t work for a host of reasons.

We decided to look at wind again because it makes a lot of sense, right? It’s a free fuel, in the end of the day. We also felt that because we tried before and it didn’t work, that shouldn’t be a reason not to try again. Why did you start looking at