| Dear
EarthTalk: I’ve heard that hybrid engine
technology is now being used to power boats. What’s
happening with that?
-- D. Smith, Portland, ME
| |
Like
many industries today, the boat business is looking
into greener ways to do their part and to attract
some of the increasing numbers of environmentally
conscious customers. Pictured: The recently retrofitted
Hornblower ferry to Alcatraz and Angel islands in
San Francisco, which runs on several alternative energy
sources, including a hybrid diesel-electric system
powered by solar cells and wind turbines right on
deck.
© John K, courtesy Flickr |
With
concerns about climate change and the fate of the world’s
imperiled oceans and waterways at an all time high, it makes
sense that the boating industry would be looking into greener
ways to try to do their part and to attract some of those
increasing numbers of environmentally conscious customers.
Americans
spend 500 million hours zipping around in recreational boats
each year. But until recently the engines on these boats
were held to much lower efficiency standards than their
automotive counterparts. Last year the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency announced new more stringent emissions
standards for marine engines—both in-board and outboard—that
will go into effect in 2010. In fact, several hybrid boats
are already on the market, boasting emission ratings well
below the new standards.
The
24-foot Endeavor Green Electric Hybrid can run all day on
an electric charge that costs only 11 cents and generates
no emissions, kicking into a small diesel generator only
if the boat’s eight batteries run dry. And when owners
can charge the batteries via solar or wind power, the boats
have a zero carbon footprint. Florida-based Craig Catamaran
Corp. last year launched a hybrid version of its compact
catamaran-style speedboat. The sporty little two-seater,
which is light enough to be towed by a Mini Cooper or Smart
Car, can run for eight hours on less than a gallon of gas,
and costs less than $6,000 all in.
For
those looking for a larger, more luxurious ride, the 25-foot
Frauscher hybrid might be just the ticket. The speedy $155,000
Austrian-built pleasure boat combines an electric engine
with a 256 horsepower Steyr diesel motor to allow for emissions-free
harbor cruising or high octane speeding across open water.
If
you’re not quite ready to take the plunge on a hybrid
boat yourself, check out one in action on your next visit
to San Francisco. The recently retrofitted Hornblower ferry
to Alcatraz and Angel islands is powered by several alternative
energy sources, including a hybrid diesel-electric system
powered by solar cells and wind turbines right on deck.
Alcatraz Cruises, the private company that runs the service
claims the Hornblower is the first hybrid ferry boat in
the country. The 64-foot vessel has an advanced power management
system that regulates when and how the different power sources
are used so it can make best use of its energy and minimize
emissions. Passengers can see many of the technological
advancements on the vessel, making for not only a fun and
scenic but educational ride.
In
another development, the U.S. Navy has reportedly contracted
with Solomon Technologies, makers of the famous Zodiac line
of rugged inflatable boats, to create a series of hybrid
boats where fuel efficiency and stealthy (quiet) passage
is of paramount importance. Recreationists, pacifists and
Greenpeace anti-whaling activists alike may get the chance
to check one out soon, too, as Solomon is already looking
into incorporating hybrid technologies into its recreational
and commercial product lines as well.
CONTACTS:
Endeavour
Green; Craig
Catamaran; Frauscher
Boats; Alcatraz
Cruises; Solomon
Technologies.
Dear
EarthTalk: Hunting seems to be a real controversy
among environmental advocates. Can you set the record straight:
Is hunting good or bad for the environment?
-- Bill Davis, New York, NY
| |
The
hunting debate will probably never be resolved to
everyone's satisfaction, but green leaders are increasingly
advocating for cooperation between hunters and environmental
groups. After all, despite differences about the ethics
of hunting, both groups lament urban sprawl and habitat
destruction.
© David De Lossy, courtesy Getty Images |
Like so many
hot button issues, the answer to this question depends upon
who you ask. On the one hand, some say, nothing could be
more natural than hunting, and indeed just about every animal
species—including humans—has been either predator
or prey at some point in its evolution. And, ironic as it
sounds, since humans have wiped out many animal predators,
some see hunting as a natural way to cull the herds of prey
animals that, as a result, now reproduce beyond the environment’s
carrying capacity.
On the other
hand, many environmental and animal advocates see hunting
as barbaric, arguing that it is morally wrong to kill animals,
regardless of practical considerations. According to Glenn
Kirk of the California-based The Animals Voice, hunting
“causes immense suffering to individual wild animals…”
and is “gratuitously cruel because unlike natural
predation hunters kill for pleasure…” He adds
that, despite hunters’ claims that hunting keeps wildlife
populations in balance, hunters’ license fees are
used to “manipulate a few game [target] species into
overpopulation at the expense of a much larger number of
non-game species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity,
genetic integrity and ecological balance.”
Beyond moral
issues, others contend that hunting is not practical. According
to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the vast
majority of hunted species—such as waterfowl, upland
birds, mourning doves, squirrels and raccoons—“provide
minimal sustenance and do not require population control.”
Author Gary E.
Varner suggests in his book, In Nature’s Interests,
that some types of hunting may be morally justifiable while
others may not be. Hunting “designed to secure the
aggregate welfare of the target species, the integrity of
its ecosystem, or both”—what Varner terms ‘therapeutic
hunting’—is defensible, while subsistence and
sport hunting—both of which only benefit human beings—is
not.
Regardless of
one’s individual stance, fewer Americans hunt today
than in recent history. Data gathered by the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service for its most recent (2006) National Survey
of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation,
show that only five percent of Americans—some 12.5
million individuals—consider themselves hunters today,
down from nine percent in 2001 and 15 percent in 1996.
Public support
for hunting, however, is on the rise. A 2007 survey by Responsive
Management Inc., a social research firm specializing in
natural resource issues, found that 78 percent of Americans
support hunting today versus 73 percent in 1995. Eighty
percent of respondents agreed that “hunting has a
legitimate place in modern society,” and the percent
of Americans indicating disapproval of hunting declined
from 22 percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 2007.
Perhaps matching
the trend among the public, green leaders are increasingly
advocating for cooperation between hunters and environmental
groups: After all, both lament urban sprawl and habitat
destruction.
CONTACTS:
The
Animals Voice; HSUS;
National
Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation;
Responsive
Management Inc. |
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