The China Merchant Energy Shipping company launched a crude oil supertanker that uses four large sails to reduce its fuel consumption.
The company says that the four 130 foot masts cut down the supertanker's fuel consumption by an impressive 9.8 percent, proving once and for all that relying on strong wind currents to cross our planet's oceans still makes sense in the 21st century.
The vessel doesn't look like a sailing ship. Four lightweight carbon fiber blades that can be electronically raised or lowered can be found on the ship, which is more than 1,000 feet long.
A computer system constantly adjusts the angles of the sails to use the best air currents.
The sail system could save over 2,900 tons of carbon dioxide emissions when travelling from the Middle East to China.
It's not the first time that rigid sails have been used to cut fuel consumption. Eco Marine Power, a Japanese renewable energy systems company, came up with an even more ambitious design that relied on rigid sails, solar panels and energy storage modules.
As has been the case with many other concepts like it over the last decade or so, the zero emission ship has yet to be built.
The new supertanker is more impressive because it is already being used.
The ship is designed to carry 2 million barrels of fossil fuels. This is a step in the correct direction.
The giant supertanker uses less fuel thanks to its sails.
The new ship with rigid solar sails harnesses the power of the sun and wind at the same time.
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