Tag: wind power

Guest Post: Sailing Toward Sustainability Transportation

Temple U. Professor Misty Blessley describes a new technology that will uplift sustainability in the shipping industry.

Chemship B.V., a transporter of bulk liquid via its fleet of stainless steel chemical tankers, is the first of its kind to use wind assisted ship propulsion (i.e., sail toward sustainable transportation). Its MT Chemical Challenger, which covers the Trans-Atlantic route between the East Coast of the U.S and the Mediterranean, is the first chemical tanker to be equipped with sustainable wind technology. In a recent article, Chemship’s CEO writes: “We will use less fuel and thus reduce CO2 emissions. For this vessel, we anticipate an annual CO2 reduction of 850 tons. This is equivalent to the yearly CO2 emissions of over 500 passenger cars.”

The technology behind this is four VentoFoils, which have a 30X30 meter sail equivalent. The VentoFoils create a direct wind surface, which when combined with vacuum technology attenuates the force of the wind. The wind sails offer the benefits of easy installation, no needed reinforcements, push-button folding and sail setting, automatic sensing and folding with wind forces over seven and the sails do not obstruct the crew’s line of sight.

Four 16-meter high sails cut fuel consumption by 10-20%

This initiative by Chemship is not only good for the planet, but good for the shipowner’s profits. Since January 1, 2024, due to the expansion of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) in the shipping industry, shipowners have been paying for the emissions associated with their sea transported goods coming into and going out of European ports.

Classroom Discussion Questions:
1. In Supplement 5 of your Heizer/Render/Munson text, the objective of the EU ETS to combat climate change is discussed. Consider their expansion into the shipping sector.
2. In what ways does Chemship’s adoption of VentoFoils create a competitive advantage? (Note: Water transportation is often preferred when cost is more important than speed).

OM in the News: China Writes the Rules for Wind Power

 It surely seems as though the headlines every week relate to China taking a dominant manufacturing position in another industry. What the US will do about the continuing loss of  global manufacturing market share might be of concern to every student in an OM class. Today’s front page New York Times story is called “To Conquer Wind Power, China Writes the Rules”.

As we have blogged recently, the pattern is repeating: Chinese firms acquire the latest Western technology by various means, then take advantage of government policies to become the world’s dominant, low-cost suppliers. This is the case in high-speed trains, drones, jet fighters and commercial jets, solar power, nuclear reactors, cell phones, and desktop computers.

Gamesa, a Spanish firm, and a world leader in wind energy turbines, has just learned that the competing for China’s lucrative business means playing by rules stacked in Beijing’s favor. Gamesa’s share of the Chinese market dropped from a third in 2005, to 3% today. The Chinese now control half of the $45 billion global market for wind turbines, and are taking direct aim at the US, where GE has long been the leader. Sinovel, backed by $13 billion in Chinese government loans, is opening offices across the US.

How has this happened? Four reasons, according to the Times: low -interest loans, cheap land from the government, preferential contracts from state-owned companies, and dramatic “local content” laws. The latter, trade lawyers say, are direct violations of the WTO. But the Chinese government has bet–correctly–that Gamesa, GE, and other multinationals, are unwilling to risk losing a piece of the Chinese pie by complaining. Says one wind industry CEO anonymously, “Everybody was too scared”.

Discussion questions:

1. What is the US government position regarding such Chinese dominance?

2. What other industries have followed this pattern?

3. Why is China so successful with this manufacturing strategy?