Huge Solar Ship Docked in Long Beach
The Auriga Leader, a Japanese owned NYK cargo ship capable of carrying 6,400 cars and using over 300 solar panels as part of its power supply was docked in Long Beach yesterday, and just departed. It is the first commerical cargo ship employing solar power technology to reduce diesel emissions. The solar panels can supply up to 15% of the vessel’s electrical power when docked. The ship will probably return to Long Beach in about 30 days, and could be available for visitation. Call the Port of Long Beach to find out specific details about the possibility of seeing the solar panels. The ship is in the service of Toyota, carrying its’ vehicles from Japan.
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At 665 feet long, and about 100 feet deep and wide it has a carrying capacity of 60,000 gross tons. 1.6 million dollars was the cost of the solar technology - to install and make it operational. The Auriga is the first in a generation of new cargo ships which will use solar power to reduce their diesel consumption. Emissions from cargo ships are a globally massive source of air pollutants…” just 15 of the world’s biggest ships may now emit as much pollution as all the world’s 760m cars” according to a recent publication. Shipping pollution has been found by research to contribute to human deaths.
The Long Beach port is one of the busiest in the nation, and is a very large air polluter due to the activities of large ships and approximately 100,000 diesel trucks. The Long Beach and Los Angeles ports may be the number one polluter in the state of California. A special report was produced on the problem by California Connected.
Solar technology used by the Auriga Leader is a small attempt to start reducing emissions from cargo ships. Lessons learned from the Auriga can be utilized for solar technologies on other vessels, which will need to start going green if there is to be any reduction in air pollution and carbon emissions. NYK engineers are considering similar solar power installations for their 800 other ships.
The Port of Long Beach has been making efforts to reduce air pollution and was commended recently with an EPA Green Flag for trying to slow cargo vessels as they motor towards the docks, in order to reduce their emissions.
Image Credit: ships-info.info
Darn, just missed it…
Fantasctic to see such boats coming out here and curbing down the dramatic pollution we have near the local highways.
The Electricnick.com team.