Solar Sailor, an Australian company founded in 1999, has a bright idea for the world’s shipping fleet: replace the cheap but massively-polluting diesel standard with a hybrid marine drive, one combining solar, wind, and mechanical generators. The result would be both an efficient and cost-effective alternative for a variety of common ships.

If anything, hybrid drives may be better suited for boats than cars. Whereas an automobile must fit into a specific size (like a traffic lane) and be able to change speeds rapidly, a ferry only needs to maintain a simple, plodding rate through the water. Both the wind and sun can help fuel a ship, but the driving profile of a car makes this difficult.

On the other end of the spectrum, Russia’s leading energy company is planning to build a massive floating nuclear power plant to service remote cities in the far stretches of Siberia. The $200 million project would have a football field-sized barge docked in the White Sea and tethered to land by power cables. All waste would be stored aboard the vessel, which would power 200,000 homes.

For all the benefits to Russia’s economy, such a project could be disastrous. Should a storm disconnect the barge, the reactor could run wild, melt through the hull, and explode radioactive water droplets over a massive area. No worries though: the cooling system has never been tested.

Says Russian nuclear expert Cristina Chuen reassuringly, “maybe it will turn out great, but I just hope they did all the research to make sure it’s safe.” Sweet dreams!

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See Also: How To Build A Nuclear Bomb,Nuclear States Run Amok,Solar Cars on the Road,

This entry was posted by Jeffrey Goodman on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 11:55 am and is filed under Design, Environment, Social Change, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.