Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 14.12
The fi lling station of the future was launched in Austria in 2007. It refuels electric
motorbikes with carbon-free solar power.
Photos: SOLON AG for solar technology. Photographer of photo left:
www.marcusbredt.de.
14.4 Climate-Compatible Travel by Water or Air
14.4.1 Modern Shipping
As a result of globalization, goods are being shipped over ever-longer distances. A
large part of the increase in transport is being handled by commercial shipping. The
carbon dioxide emissions per transport kilometre are signifi cantly lower with ship-
ping compared to air freight. Nevertheless, shipping is also contributing noticeably
to the greenhouse effect. Two to three percent of all global carbon dioxide emissions
are attributed to shipping - and the rate is rising.
Until the middle of the nineteenth century, sailing ships dominated freight and pas-
senger traffi c at sea. Steamships then came along and had the advantage that they
did not have to depend on wind conditions to keep to their timetables. They gradu-
ally replaced sailing craft, which today are used almost exclusively for leisure and
sporting activities.
Yet new types of concepts exist that make wind power useable in combination with
conventional ship propulsion. The German inventor Anton Flettner developed a
cylindrical rotor to propel ships in the 1920s. However, this drive did not catch on
at the time. New ship prototypes are currently in development, including the Flettner
rotor combined with a conventional ship diesel drive, aimed at reducing fuel require-
ments from 30 to 40%.
