Issue 568 Hybrid boats and Planes April 13, 2015

Just like a hybrid car, we can have a hybrid boat or a plane.  Here is how it works.

Hybrid Boat:  A hybrid boat is already in operation on the West coast of the United States.  It is a tug boat that uses the electricity stored in its battery to move around the port area.  It then only kicks in the engine when it needs to generate more electricity and that extra power to perform its tasks.  Likewise, all boats have the capacity to be hybrid electric.  The reason being is that the main engine only need to produce electricity.  It has zero need to be hooked up to the actual propellers that propel the boat forward (though it still can be for extra power).  The electrical motors can (with reduced size and weight) turn the screws to make the craft go.  However, the craft will still need batteries if it is to be a true hybrid so that the engine can be turned off.  As such, the concept is simple and electricity can be augmented via solar panels or even wave power electrical systems on board.  The batteries can even be charged in port by plugging them into the cities/towns power grid.  This is already being done with large cargo ships so as to reduce pollution in the port area itself which also protects workers health.

Hybrid Planes:  Planes too can be hybrids (that even includes helicopters).  The easiest hybrid is the propeller type aircraft.  The electricity turns the props to generate the thrust to propel the aircraft forward thus generating lift via the wings.  Solar panels on the wings themselves and the main body can be used to augment battery power in flight and there is currently a solar powered propeller driven aircraft being used to circumnavigate the world.  In addition, small wind turbines can be added to the aircraft to generate electrical energy as well in midflight as the forward thrust of the plane will cause them to spin.   This technology is great for smaller aircraft that make short hops or don't need the speed of a jet aircraft.  But jets can take on this technology too.  Even though jets will need jet fuel to produce thrust, it does not mean that the solar panels and batteries cannot be equipped to power all the other systems on the plane which thus makes it so that the engines can be used solely for propulsion instead of all the aircrafts electrical needs.

Conclusion:  Planes, Boats and houses (as talked about last week) can all be hybrids like cars.  The goal is to reduce fuel consumption while taking advantage of electrical energies efficiency and of course power.  The only issue is still the batteries themselves as they still weigh a lot.  But time is going to fix that issue.  I look forward to seeing what improvements they make and how this may all develop into all electric vehicles.