Cargo Ships Raise their Sails to Go Green
One of the largest transporters of food supplies in the world, Cargill Shipping, is turning to the thousand-year-old sail technology to save money and go “greener.”
Commercial shipping is responsible for transporting around 90 percent of the world’s trade; but this output also comes with a high price tag environmentally and financially. With oil prices at an all-time high and Emissions Control Areas springing up in shipping lanes around the world in an efforts to reduce commercial shipping emissions –a whopping 5 percent carbon contributor- the timing of the choice seems perfect.
"The world is changing - the industry is changing," says Anne Marie Warris, an advisor for Lloyds Register, a company that has tested the seaworthiness of vessels for over 250 years.
The convergence between environmental and economic motivations seems to be one that benefits both the company financially as well as their eco-friendly subconscious.
"I don't think there's a substitute for ships, or for engines either,” added Warris. “Yes, there's now liquid natural gas as a fuel or windpower or solar - but you still need to convert that into motion. We have to make that happen."
