Reading the BBC news this morning an article about a kite powered ship caught my eye. It’s a great idea, which will help reduce the cost of shipping, reduce the rate of consumption of oil and reduce carbon emissions from shipping.

It’s also a great example of a good business opportunity, it solves a problem, the increased cost of shipping as the cost of oil rises, it’s self financing, customers won’t have to worry about the cost of the investment as it’ll provide cost savings and as a result it’s use will pay for itself. It is a combination of proven technologies (kitesurfing) and ships, scaled up. Best of all it can be retrofitted to existing ships.

The company pursuing this opportunity is SkySails and according to their website:

By using the SkySails-System, a ship’s fuel costs can be reduced by 10-35% on annual average, depending on wind conditions. Under optimal wind conditions, fuel consumption can temporarily be reduced by up to 50%.

The BBC explains that the 10-35% saving translates into roughly £800 ($1,560) a day in reduced fuel costs, which is a potential saving of nearly £300,000 per year per ship.

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