The first ever all-electric cargo ship is in operation in China's Pearl River. While it's a step in the right direction to eliminate fossil fuels, the ship is being used to carry coal — the very material that encouraged the shift to clean energy.
First of Its Kind: Electric Cargo Ship. Creative Commons |
Constructed by Guangzhou Shipyard International Company Ltd, it can travel 80 kilometers (approximately 50 miles) after being charged for 2 hours. As noted by Clean Technica, 2 hours is roughly the amount of time it would take to unload the ship’s cargo while docked.
Other stats for China’s cargo ship include being 70.5 meters (230 feet) in length, a battery capacity of 2,400 kWh, and a travel speed of 12.8 kilometers per hour (8 mph). It’s definitely not the fastest electric vehicle we’ve seen hit the water, but it’s designed for transporting numerous objects rather than speed.
Oh, the Irony
“As the ship is fully electric powered, it poses no threats to the environment,” said Huang Jialin, general manager of Hangzhou Modern Ship Design & Research Co, the company behind the ship’s design.
“The technology will soon be likely … used in passenger or engineering ships.”
China’s all-electric cargo ship. Image Credit: China News/Peng Yonggui |
It’s still an objectively better scenario that a traditional cargo ship carrying coal, but one can easily see how using clean energy to make coal cheaper misses the entire point of clean energy. Hopefully the electric cargo ship won’t be carrying coal for long, and China can find it better haulage. Perhaps parts for wind turbine construction. Or even additional lithium-ion batteries. Whatever the short-term future holds, we’re seeing more of the means we need to improve in the long-term.
Links
- Fully electric cargo ship launched in Guangzhou
- China Launches World’s First All-Electric Cargo Ship, Will Use It To Haul Coal
- The World’s First All-Electric Yacht Has a 40-Mile Range and a $500,000 Price Tag
- Australia Set To Export Wind & Solar Energy To Indonesia
- Solar Grid Parity For Australia By 2020 As Renewables Surge
- Solar To Reach Tipping Point In 2018 & Save 80% In Developing World
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