Leave it to a design engineer responsible for “green” concept cars to come up with a concept megayacht that proposes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent – even upwards of 100 percent.
Richard Sauter, founder and owner of Sauter Carbon Offset Design, has been getting a lot of publicity over the past several days from environmentally oriented blogs and a few yacht Web sites. Because of the nature of his project – tapping existing design elements and technology, not futuristic ideas – I contacted him to get further details.
Sauter has extensive experience with fluid and thermal dynamics as well as aerodynamics. Among other things, he designed an eco-friendly concept car that was displayed at leading car shows in London and Geneva a few years ago. He turned his attention to the yacht market because of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, he does not believe that carbon-offset programs are really that effective when it comes to superyachts. (If you’re not familiar with these programs, they permit people to buy credits to offset the emissions resulting from their transportation and energy usage. The money goes to developing and developed countries alike, where tree planting, wind farm creation, and other projects occur.)
Formula Zero, as Sauter calls her, is a 43-meter (141-foot) megayacht employing a wave-piercing catamaran hull married to wing sails. Furthermore, the wing sails are fitted with solar panels, as is the superstructure. Why a wavepiercer? “Catamaran hi-speed wavepiercing displacement hulls have been in use on 20- to 110-meter hi-speed vessels for around 20 years,” he says. He points to Incat Crowther as “being the leader in this area” and points to racing catamarans as employing this type of hull. “Wavepiercing hulls are standard and commonplace everywhere except in the realm of power sailing superyachts,” he adds.
Sauter’s approach to the wavepiercer is a bit different. While Incat Crowther uses waterjets for trim, Formula Zero calls for four counter-rotating propellers with stern flaps. They are additionally azimuthing and part of a diesel-electric propulsion system.
The solar cells are intriguing, too. “The mast core mechanism of the transparent wing sails have a thin-film solar cell strip on both sides,” Sauter explains. “The light that passes through the transparent sections of the wing sails onto the solar panels below is diffused and magnified by thin-film Fresnel lenses.” Fresnel lenses were initially used two centuries ago in lighthouses, to focus the light beam, and are now widely used to concentrate solar light. Formula Zero’s superstructure has 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) of solar panels, while the wingsails feature 100 square meters (1,076 square feet).
Sauter says the 75- to 100-percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is indeed possible. He analyzed the space and performance of a 54-meter (177-foot) single-hulled sailing yacht for comparison, as this LOA’s accommodations and speeds are comparable to those of Formula Zero. Both achieve a 12-knot cruising speed, which after 24 hours results in dramatically different carbon-dioxide emissions. Sauter calculates that the traditional sailing yacht emits 16 tons, while Formula Zero would emit just 5 tons. This, plus studies on recovery of “waste” heat from air-conditioning and other systems, make Sauter confident that Formula Zero can become a reality.
In fact, he says that last week, he sent information about the project to the major megayacht builders worldwide to gauge their interest. Stay tuned.
UPDATE, APRIL 1: Sauter e-mailed this morning to say that Jongert has expressed interest in the project. The yard, like a few, is exploring “green” yachts. “Clearly I am honored and privileged to collaborate with Jongert Shipyard, a superyacht brand that is renowned for its excellence and forward thinking, witnessed through their long history of providing only the highest quality custom yachts,” Sauter writes. “While implementing their Green Label program will be the first real step towards seriously reducing emissions in luxury superyachts, I believe it will also define Jongert as the leading shipbuilder of of our times.”
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