Happy New Year Lymington
It's 2010, and we are please to announce that as part of our ongoing activities to support and raises awareness of projects that develop the cultural and creative life of the community - we are officially launching ten new community projects.
We hope you will explore them and get involved with those which you think you can help Lymington throughout 2010. Read more...
Universal Sail
Universal Sail aims to alleviate the present
congestion of road, rail and air transport by encouraging and developing the
increased use of water transport.
Water
transport is potentially far more economic in fuel consumption than any
other major form of transport. New types of hull design and applied
technology can enhance this key advantage.
Use of wind power through sail assistance can further reduce fuel consumption.
When these
factors are taken into account, water transport is capable of reducing
fuel use to approximately 7% of the amount of fuel per passenger mile
of aircraft, and 10% that of automobiles.
Compared with road
and rail transport, water transport does not require massive investment
in an infrastructure of roadways and railways.
Water covers four-fifths of our planet, and is a “natural” grid.
Air travel requires the
siting of airports near large cities, with a heavy environmental impact
including the noise and fuel pollution problems associated with
overflight. By contrast, the level of pollution created by sea
transport is minimal. Sea ports remain largely underused, and water
routes are usually at some distance from human conurbations.
For
these reasons, water transport is potentially by far the greenest of
future transport alternatives, and should be at the forefront of our thinking in planning to meet future transport requirements.
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Introduction
Continued expansion of human
populations and preference for the automobile as the favourite means of
travel have faced governments with potential gridlock or a further
heavy investment in traffic infrastructure systems.
At various times the expansion of rail and air travel have both been proposed as means of alleviating road congestion. But even if this were practical both these means have relatively high carbon footprints, measured in terms of fuel use per passenger mile. Air travel is the most fuel-expensive, and existing airports are already subject to maximum use. Rail is less fuel-expensive than cars, but not by any great magnitude, and would also require considerable capital investment to expand.
At various times the expansion of rail and air travel have both been proposed as means of alleviating road congestion. But even if this were practical both these means have relatively high carbon footprints, measured in terms of fuel use per passenger mile. Air travel is the most fuel-expensive, and existing airports are already subject to maximum use. Rail is less fuel-expensive than cars, but not by any great magnitude, and would also require considerable capital investment to expand.
A “Natural” Travel Grid
Compared with land transport, there is one further important advantage to expanding water transport. It does not require an expensive and land-greedy “grid” of rails or roads on which to run. Water, which covers four fifths of the surface of our planet, is a “natural”, almost a universal, grid. Compared with the other practical forms of transport, it has hardly been exploited at all.
Developments in new forms of water transport
Transport by water has long been recognised as a highly efficient form of moving freight. A single horse can pull a barge along a canal — a thirty-ton load propelled literally by an energy source consisting of a single horse power. There have also been eras when sail provided highly effective transport, as for example in the heyday of the clipper ships such as Cutty Sark. In our own time water transport, epitomised by tankers and container vessels, continues to be the most economical practical form of transport of bulk cargoes over long distances where speed is not a primary factor.
Travel by water between population centres
The majority of the population in the world lives in cities or towns near the sea or with a water axis, and most major cities and towns are either seaports, or are situated on estuaries or large rivers. Unlike land transport, which is increasingly congested, sea travel is largely untapped. The water routes within and between water-based cities are still virtually unused as travel routes.
Seaworthiness
Partly through design and configuration, the Universal Hull design is likely to be significantly more seaworthy than existing motor vessel designs. Because the very narrow entry at the bow (half-angle of entry at waterline is of the order of 10º), the hull slices through waves rather than over them. In a seaway, the bow generates much less agitation through waves.
Potential Sea-Routes for Passengers
For passengers, the use of such purpose-designed vessels is potentially widespread. The various transport niches for these vessels include:
- 1. Commuting to and from work to a city centre from outlying coast-based conurbations.
- 2. Outside rush-hour commuter hours, travelling to city centres to shop, sightsee, eat, visit friends, etc.
- 3. Feeder routes to long-distance ferries (say, for example, to Felixstowe where large ferries travel to continental destinations).
- 4. Longer coastal journeys around coasts which would be free of the stresses and delays of land travel.
- 5. “Shadowing” existing longer routes (such as cross-Channel ferry or rail routes) by offering a more pleasant and “greener” means of travel with a component of travel by sail.
- 6. Longer distance cruises to different ports, perhaps with parties of friends or colleagues.
- 7. In larger versions, of 200 ft LOA or more, crossing oceans becomes increasingly feasible and attractive. Because of these innovations, a new generation of sail-assisted ocean liner, in which sail plays a significant part of propulsion, is now technically feasible and capable of successful commercial application.
Changing the Nature of Travel
People travel for a huge variety of reasons, and to be able to undertake such voyages by water, with an appreciable proportion of the journey by sail, not to speak of the added incentive of a greatly reduced carbon footprint per passenger mile, will become an increasingly attractive option for 21st century travellers.
Comparisons in Fuel Cost per Passenger Mile
Attempts at precise calculation of fuel use per passenger mile for different types of passenger transport are complex, and there have been different results from various surveys at various times. In addition, in certain cases the data also change with time. For example, there has been a significant development in the efficiency of automobile engines over the past two decades. Despite these factors, there appear to be clear patterns in the comparison of relative fuel use. Such data in turn tend to follow broadly scientific reasoning and lead to commonsense conclusions.
Broader, Global Applications
So far we have considered the reintroduction of sail-assisted water travel as mainly applicable to technologically sophisticated first world countries where awareness of environmental factors is increasingly widespread. But another huge area of potential application of the benefits of such technology applies to currently less developed parts of the world where, because of underlying fuel costs, conventional forms of travel and freight are expensive.
Conclusion
Summarising these findings, water transport is inherently more economical in fuel than other major forms of transport. But, as the table below demonstrates, the advantage of water transport increases further if the average speed is reduced from 20 mph to 12 mph, and further still if a component of sail is added. With these two provisos water transport becomes remarkably green.
Table 1: Cost by Travel Type
| TYPE OF TRAVEL | FUEL COST PER PASSENGER MILE |
| Aircraft | £0.238 |
| Automobile | £0.183 |
| Coach | £0.127 |
| Train | £0.115 |
| Water transport (average speed 20 mph) | £0.067 |
| Water transport (average speed 12 mph) | £0.028 |
| Water transport (average speed 12 mph with sail assistance) | £0.019 |
Download the full paper:
Universal Sail - Water-based transport (117 KB)
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