Hydrogen production by ocean wind with parafoil-pulled ships

Abstract

It is proposed that a ship pulled by a parafoil is made to generate electricity, and the power so generated be used to electrolyze water to produce hydrogen. Additionally, several chemicals are produced by using the power. It is first shown that the high altitude wind energy over the oceans is the most abundant and most concentrated form of renewable energy. A 100,000 ton ship sailing at 31.5 knot has been conceptually designed, and its energy gathering performance was calculated for two wind speeds, 8.24 m/s and 9.4 m/s. Chemical processes leading to additional profits are examined. Finally the economy of the proposed system is calculated. It is shown that the cost and benefit ratio is in the range from 10 to 13.