okt 28

BioLite Stove – Electricity from fire

The BioLite Stove | The Green Boating Blog

The BioLite Stove in action, the orange part contains both the charger and the fan.

As you might have noticed, I have a very broad interest, both related to renewable energy for boats and in general.  The BioLite Stove is an example of something different that caught my attention. To me, it shows the technological progress that is being made all around us and all the new possibilities of energy generation. In this case, in a small and very well designed package.

The BioLIte Stove

The BioLite Stove has a very smart design. The legs can fold in, the electrical unit can detach and fits in the stove.  As a result, you can easily take the BioLite Stove with you in a small poach on every camping trip and to other off grid places you might go. Weighing in at less than a kilo, it is not a too heavy either, especially as it doubles up as a fire place to put your pan on.

Lees verder

okt 14

Zero Emission Ferry from France

A fully electrical ferry

The Ar Vag Tredan, a fully electrical ferry

The french ship yard STX France has introduced a novelty in the nautical industry. They built a fully electrical, zero emission ferry. Instead of using traditional batteries to power the electrical engines, they opted for super capacitors. The advantage of the super capacitor is that that they are cheaper to use and can be charged very fast. They can use this option because the ferry will operate on a fixed and short route.

Fast charging

Every time the ferry docks from its short trip the capacitors will be charged with wall power. Unlike traditional batteries, which need many hours to charge, the super capacitors can be charged fast enough not to cause a delay.

Lees verder

okt 02

Green Boating at Pinterest

You can find the Green Boating Blog on Pinterest for a selection of beautiful pictures.  Funny, witty, pretty, smart, thoughtful, exciting, inspiring, you can find it all!

Pinterest

There are some spots you don’t want to ruin with a noisy or smoking diesel engine, there are some boats just to pretty while others already look green because there were no petrol or diesel engines when they were first build.
Lees verder

aug 29

Athena

Athena

One of the most beautiful and impressive yachts built in the recent past. Built in the Netherlands by the founder of Netscape and couple other companies in Silicon Valley. Impressive. Gracious. Just a pure beauty. 90m of immense power. One of the largest sailing yachts.

Athena

These are just a couple of words or sentences to describe the Athena. I have always been very impressed with this Dutch built yacht since I first heard of her many years ago and she was extensively covered in every sailing and boating magazine.

Currently she is for sale if you are interested. Have a look for yourself. You have to promise to invite me if you buy her though… It is not like you don’t have enough space to invite some friends.

Lees verder

aug 06

The Green Boating Blog on Facebook

Facebook

Ofcourse you can follow us on Facebook as well. If you follow the Green Boating Blog you will never miss the latest posts about renewable energy and boats. Please like The Green Boating Blog on Facebook and stay posted on the latest updates about renewable energy for boats. But don’t worry, I won’t spam you or overload you with too many posts.

Share on Facebook

You are more than welcome to share any thoughts and suggestions. I am always interested to hear from you what you think, and what is easier to use Facebook to post a quick note? Thanks in advance and i hope you have a great summer where you might even by so lucky to experience the comfort and quietness of an electrical boat…

aug 06

AK Maritime Service

I don’t just want to show far from our bed examples of huge projects sponsored by large corporations, but as well help you to find the right information for your own boat.
AK Maritime Service is a service provider both for recreational yachts as well as work boats. They have a small webshop where you can order a variety of electrical components and engines.
Go check them out!

aug 06

PlanetSolar

PlanetSolar is the largest solar-powered boat and sailed around the world only using solar power. As you can see, this was achieved by covering every square inch with solar panels, and then some more, just to get as much power from the sun as possible. The successful circumnavigation of Planet Solar has shown the possibilities of using solar power, but the project has shown as well that it is not yet feasible, especially when you are a bit removed from the equator.

Planet Solar in the sun

Planet Solar

Lees verder

aug 06

Electrical boating in Amsterdam

Electric Boat AmsterdamElectrical boating in Amsterdam

Not renewable, just electrical sailing in the canals in Amsterdam. Electrical boating is becoming more and more popular in the canals of Amsterdam.
Read this Dutch Article in Godevaert.nl

People like that it is “green”, the boats are really easy to handle because of the electrical propulsion and for the companies renting the boats, the low maintenance costs are very important as well.

jul 27

The Story of Change

Story of Change

I already mentioned the story of stuff in a post a couple of years ago in a post because I really liked the video. Today I saw a new video of the Story of Stuff project, called The Story Of Change. After they first analysed all the “stuff” that we own, use, and get rid of, this video argues how we should generate change. Everyone buys things the need, or perhaps just want to have, everyday. As a colleague mentioned today, we [girls} don’t need a reason to buy new shoes, do we? So we all just keep buying more and more things.

Of course we look for organic food, we buy free range meat, we recycle, don’t we? But is that enough to really change the government policies and influence large corporations? I like their argument.  You do need a critical mass to get something done. Especially projects, like renewable energy, that require large investments. The example of the electrical cars in Amsterdam and other cars managed by Mercedes, Car to Go, functions because many people in Amsterdam use them daily. Without all these avid users, the project would have never gotten of the ground.

Lees verder

jul 15

Improvement to my boat

— UPDATE — The chinese engine was installed in 2012, and has so far been a success!

Improvement, yes! Green, not yet.

So what happened? We replaced the the old engine, a Mercedes OEM 636 , with a new Chinese engine. The Mercedes OEM 636 was last installed in a car in 1961. That is over 50 years ago! The engine has been running quite ok, and I believe the core of the engine will still be able to run for many more hours. But this will require an enthusiast who is willing to invest quite some time in this ancient engine. That enthusiast won’t be me, but it would be great if someone else will get another 10 orso years out of this engine.

Whats next? A Chinese engine! I have been told they make about 5000 engines. So they do have some experience with engines. I meant 5000 engines, per week! That is a lot of engines!

An improvement by installing a more efficient diesel engine from China. This will reduce my fuel consumption and lower the pollution. The next step will be an electrical engine, either as an extra just for slow sailing in the canals of Amsterdam or to replace the diesel engine. We’ll see.

jul 15

Video of an electrical boat in Seatle

I just saw this video of a guy who made his own electrical boat and wanted to share it with you. The guy is having a great time in his self build wooden, electrical boat. The only thing he is still missing is some solar panels!

Lees verder

Meer laden