Saving money, Airbus company developed kites for sailing ships

European aircraft manufacturing company Airbus is planning kite equipment for ships to cut annual fuel costs by at least one million euros, and reduce 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions when transporting machine parts. fly by sea.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Airbus specializing in aircraft manufacturing has announced plans to equip kite-type sails for cargo ships , to cut annual fuel costs by at least one million euros and reduce by 8,000. tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

If tested successfully, all of the company's cargo ships will be converted to sail when transporting Airbus aircraft parts.

Seawing kite is equipped for ships - (Photo: Airseas Company).

For a long time, sails are the main means to utilize wind energy. The method of running this train is quite safe and does not require additional costs, but there are also some limitations. Especially, with large ships, sails are not capable of providing high speed. In addition, when the wind is calm, the sail becomes useless.

Airbus project uses kites as a sail. This kite, connected to the ship by cable, will be 500 square meters wide. Kite is planned to be installed on the Ville de Bordeaux ship.

It is expected that by 2021, such a kite-equipped vessel will carry aircraft components, running from Europe to Mobil city in the US state of Alabama, where some types of Airbus passenger aircraft are currently assembled.

In addition to kites, a weather sensor system will be installed on board. It is expected that the ship will go out to the captain with the help of its own engines. Then, if the weather sensor system determines that there is wind, it will provide the captain with a signal to extract the kite. Along the route, the system will make recommendations to adjust the direction and lift kites to make the most of wind power. When the kite wing is opened, the ship's engine can turn off.

Airseas , a subsidiary of Airbus will conduct Seawing kite development. According to developers, using kites to run trains into circulation will reduce fuel consumption by an average of 20%.

Outside the Seawing 500 square meters, the company also developed a kite with an area of ​​1,000 square meters for large cargo ships. Currently, the company is negotiating with several carriers to install kites on their ships.