Green Daily

Here's a new nautical gadget that will blow your mind: it's called a sail -- well, it's actually more of a kite. Nevertheless, as unearthshattering as it sounds at first, this sail kite is actually a super efficient way to assist carbon-spewing ship engines as they lug massive loads of freight across the ocean. Controlled by a really expensive, really necessary computer, the SkySail is tethered to a 15-meter mast and is estimated to cut fuel consumption by 20%.

In addition to the obvious drawback -- what about when you need to go into the wind? -- the SkySail and computer will cost a whopping $725,000. It is expected, however, to save the average ship around $1600 a day in fuel costs; so it could pay for itself in about a year and half. The maiden voyage of the SkySail will cast off in January, and if it's successful we can only imagine that people will begin attaching kites and sails to everything that moves.

[via Engadget]