Boat propulsion. Is electric actually green?

[Chiara’s slave]

I'm all for it but where is the power to charge the trucks coming from ?

It will necessitate new power stations , probably nuclear .

Bring it on. If only we’d invested in nuclear 25 years ago. We can only hope that fusion proves feasible, both large and small scale.

 

[Dellquay13]

If you are interested in reducing carbon emissions then that is the very worst thing you can do - that is clear from the report, and has been clear ever since this debate started. The only sensible thing you can do if you want to keep boating is use an existing boat. The major part of the carbon release is already a sunk cost and your only future emissions will be the meagre amount of fuel you use and the carbon costs of any replacement parts including batteries you use in the future. If you buy an electric powered yacht now with existing technology you are committing to 50% higher carbon costs over the lifetime of the boat, roughly half of which is in the manufacture of the boat.

For that you get a reduction in range of up to 90% , a small reduction in fuel cost but quiet running under power. Don't forget the new battery bank ever 10-5 years

Reduce
Reuse
Recycle

I’m not a compliant consumer, if I really need to buy something, I try to get it 2nd user whenever I can

 

[Bouba]

There's nothing there to marinise really, it's fundamentally an electric motor and battery with a controller. Tesla do some clever stuff with heat redistribution, and they engineer into a vehicle, but none of that would likely be copied or need to be copied for boats.

Hybrid cars are very much still a thing. After seeing Exeter services around new years I think I'd still choose hybrid for the foreseeable future. They must have installed 100 electric charge points but there were still panicked drivers fighting over charger spaces driving in circles and waiting. Some waited the whole 45 minutes we were stopped there and still didn't get a charger when we went on our way in a diesel that had been filled before the trip to Cornwall and didn't need filling.

I am pro electric, it has a lot of advantages. Some scenarios aren't there yet and in the scheme of things that's probably not tipping the scales either way. Realistically, if we could stop one container ship at source from bringing poundland single/zero use crap it would offset every yacht the UK has or will ever see.

The charging for big trucks will happen as it happens....first it will be just depots getting chargers for their own fleet...then a few will appear on major routes ....then so on and so on

 

[Ribtecer]

We have a long way to go to de fossilize the leisure marine sector.

Yes, like finding a new material to build boats from for a start.

Surely most EB's will have immersed metal components, so the chances of electrical leakages will be very high?

It's all very interesting, I share others scepticism with regard to that outboard tank test at boat shows between a brand new E outboard and a knacked old 4 stroke, but still it illustrates the point.

I totally agree with the point above about bringing in containers of very poor quality items from the far east that are not single use, but are so cheaply made invariably they become single use, then straight off to land fill before the next ship arrives. Stopping that would appear to me a much better place to start cleaning up this world.

But thats not a very impressive way of bragging to your pals on a yacht club pontoon about how great your new latest tech is I guess.

 

[Bouba]

Ok...the future.....and it’s grim.....boats go fully green by law....there is only one way...sails....so they build more and more catamarans because for motorboaters it’s the only way they are going to learn to sail

 

[Stemar]

We can only hope that fusion proves feasible, both large and small scale.

I'd like to see that too. Unfortunately, there's a standing joke about it amongst those in the know - it's been 10 years away for the last 50 years.

Personally, I'm not sure about time, I reckon it's a Nobel prize away. We're at this stage now - just

and we need to get here

 

[Snowgoose-1]

We have a long way to go to de fossilize the leisure marine sector.

I'm afraid there are still lots of old fossils sailing boats .

Lyme Regis would probably be the best place to hand ourselves in.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I'm afraid there are still lots of old fossils sailing boats .

At 63, I’m in the younger 1/3 in our club

 

[Bouba]

I'm afraid there are still lots of old fossils sailing boats .

One thing about the old buggers who sail ...is that they help save the environment by not wearing out cloth...I don’t don’t mean their sails...the old gits don’t wear clothes

 

[Bouba]

At 63, I’m in the younger 1/3 in our club

And on this forum

 

[lustyd]

Yes, like finding a new material to build boats from for a start

We could use carbon, I reckon it would be both lighter and stiffer than glass, and will lock away some...carbon

 

[Bouba]

We could use carbon, I reckon it would be both lighter and stiffer than glass, and will lock away some...carbon

Cut out the middle man and build a boat out of wood

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We could use carbon, I reckon it would be both lighter and stiffer than glass, and will lock away some...carbon

Some of us already do

 

[Ribtecer]

Cut out the middle man and build a boat out of wood

Yea, and to help solve the current Antifoul thread issues, ive been thinking - we could clad the bottom in sheets of copper!

Get better at boat handling and you wouldn’t need any propulsion.

This is the future

 

[Neeves]

This will always be the most green approach. Keep good old boats running. Sail instead of motor whenever practical.

It will never be popular, because throwing things away pumps more money around, creating false prosperity. The Brave New World was a warning.

If we all stop buying 'T' shirts made in China the new middle class there will starve. If we all stop buying 'T' shorts made in Bangladesh then the most of the population will starve. Economies have been built on 'our' happiness to waste. Many of these starving people will try migration - to Europe, or N America (and Australia).

There may be other consequences - wars.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

I totally agree with the point above about bringing in containers of very poor quality items from the far east that are not single use, but are so cheaply made invariably they become single use, then straight off to land fill before the next ship arrives. Stopping that would appear to me a much better place to start cleaning up this world.

Not my post above on starving those who, currently, make the 'T' shirts.

Jonathan

 

[Stemar]

We still need to reduce our appalling level of waste or we'll all starve eventually, but the comments above about China and Bangladesh show how complex the whole thing is. Simple solutions like "let's all drive electric cars" just aren't going to work. It's going to take the who world working together to take difficult decisions and, unfortunately, I rate the probability of that as approximately zero.

 

[Neeves]

A bit of drift.

Cruise ships are going gas. I believe the next launchings, 2025/6 from Princess will be gas - though whether the infrastructure will be there in all the desirable ports has not been reported.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

It's going to take the whole world working together to take difficult decisions and, unfortunately, I rate the probability of that as approximately zero.

Too right

And what is the alternative scenario?

Jonathan

 

[johnalison]

Although it makes sense to continue research, I don't see any immediate benefit in trying to adapt technologies to uses for which they are unsuited, such as electric aircraft or cruising boats, and think that it is the major issues that need to be addressed first. In the short term, even limiting flying will have more effect than changing technology, and as for yachts, the best we can do is just not be needlessly wasteful.

Food for thought: