Back to the future….

Here’s a great idea…not so much that it hasn’t been ‘had’ before – but the excellence is in getting the scale right for the market that needs it. Sailing has been done before (for thousands of years, of course!) and solar power has been done before and is becoming more efficient and less expensive as well. And the idea of sail and solar power combined has been around for ages in terms of LARGE scale shipping to replace large ocean going shipping of the polluting kind but it has not yet made an impact on the market.

But GREENHEART  now appears to have designed an optimum small/medium cargo ‘boat’ with unlimited range which should be affordable by small communities/businesses which have become isolated by the increasing scale of shipping and fuel supply. Once the ‘boat’ has been built it is claimed to be carbon free and totally reliant on renewable energy but the combination should mean it is not becalmed on a wind-free day or unable to move if the sun is not shining. (Mind you, if it is cloudy AND calm it might not get far once the batteries run down!)

What impresses me just as much is that the project can be funded, to get started, by crowds of ordinary folk chipping in a little bit of cash, rather than needing large donors to get the thing moving. Also, the mechanism to pull in the funds is FUN as well. I am not going to explain what I mean (and perhaps spoil the fun) because my intention is to get you to click over to the GREENHEART site to look for yourself and join in.

“http://www.indiegogo.com/project/119777/widget”

I am certainly going to buy a share or two – hope you might like to as well. Perhaps see you on the maiden voyage?

This could prove to be a major factor in sustainable development for small communities and brings to mind again my recent posts about Climate Change and Kiribati….! Enjoy the trip back to the future!