homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Business


Subscriber content preview

December 7, 2018

Shippers reconsider an old idea: sails

  • Airbus expects to cut fuel use 20 percent by putting kite sails on ships that ferry fuselages from France to Alabama, starting in 2020.
  • By KELVIN CHAN
    AP Business Writer

    LONDON — As the shipping industry faces pressure to cut climate-altering greenhouse gases, one answer is blowing in the wind.

    European and U.S. tech companies, including one backed by airplane maker Airbus, are pitching futuristic sails to help cargo ships harness the free and endless supply of wind power. While they sometimes don't even look like sails — some are shaped like spinning columns — they represent a cheap and reliable way to reduce CO2 emissions for an industry that depends on a particularly dirty form of fossil fuels.


     
    . . .


    To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



    
    Email or user name:
    Password:
     
    Forgot password? Click here.