How can ships become cleaner? | DW Documentary

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Soot, particle pollution and heavy fuel oil: freighters and cruise liners are real climate killers. It’s high time for a change of course on the seas. The film shows how both innovations and tried-and-tested ideas can make shipping cleaner. Container ships supply people all over the world with goods, while cruises attract millions of passengers every year. But ships also cause around three percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is despite the fact that emission-free maritime trade has been possible for thousands of years - thanks to the wind. "We need to get back to sailing ships," says Captain Andreas Lackner. Fifteen years ago, the Austrian and two friends put a sailing cargo ship into operation. The "Tres Hombres" has been working since 2010, transporting up to 40 tons of goods across the seas without an engine. The clipper ship takes cocoa and rum from the Caribbean to Europe, or 20,000 bottles of organic wine from La Rochelle to Copenhagen. "We’re closing the gap between fairly paid producers of organic goods and conscious consumers," says Lackner. Others have also rediscovered the power of the wind. Ralf Oltmanns from East Frisia sailed the world's oceans at the age of 16, before founding an advertising agency. Now, 30 years later, the passionate sailor has developed a new twist on a century-old propulsion system in order to make large ships cleaner. The Flettner rotor, named after its inventor, Anton Flettner, is a type of sailing machine: a cylindrical

Published 2024-10-06 · Watch on YouTube ↗
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