Tag: ocean

Across the Atlantic With no Sail or Gas

boatThe Transatlantic21 is going to cross the ocean with no gas, instead it will use only solar power! After a successful voyage they will sell solar powered boats based on the successful design.

“The time is ripe for a breakthrough of solar techniques into the world of boat and ship navigation. Demonstrating the potential of solar power is the objective of Transatlantic21. In September 2006, “SUN21″, which has been constructed specifically for this purpose, will begin its journey from Basel to New York. It will be the first solar boat ever to cross the Atlantic: entirely dependent on sunlight, not consuming one drop of gasoline.”

Previously on ThingsAreGood we covered solar powered boats, hybrid boats, and a thing called the skysail.

Gold in the Landfill

tyresBusiness Week is running a great article on innovative green entrepreneurs. The article is appropriately titled From Garbage to Gold, and is an easy read to make your weekend good.

“For a slew of new entrepreneurs, garbage is not just a matter of personal opinion, it is, ahem, their business. In other words, they’re creating new companies out of other people’s junk.
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Reich says he is looking to broaden his product line and expand his distribution channels. “After we started the company, I didn’t see a lot of other recycling [products],” he says. “I’ve learned quite a bit about companies taking similar innovative approaches to product design. It’s a niche now, but it’s a growing field. People are becoming more aware of what products are made of and where they go after they are done owning them.””

Wind Powered Boats

It looks like the more things change the more they stay the same. A German company, SkySails, is going to start selling a new style of sail to help large freighters move through the ocean faster.

“SkySails’ system consists of an enormous towing kite and navigation software that can map the best route between two points for maximum wind efficiency. In development for more than four years, the system costs from roughly $380,000 to $3.2 million, depending on the size of the ship it’s pulling. SkySails claims it will save one third of fuel costs.”