> how much do you produce to make the devices, maintain and run them, the boats
Boats consume way more fuel than a layman may think. I’ve been on a ~80m / 20people crew coast guard ship for 6 weeks and did a napkin math onboard based on tank levels and refueling date. It was +1000l/person/day of diesel (can’t remember precise numbers). We were moving ~50% or the time. In addition of the motors there were many BIG generators to make everything work: heating, sewage, hot water, AC, pumps, motors for cranes, anchor raising… you also need your motors running at least in low speed even when still to control your position and direction.
I’m sure boats acting like platforms and with less crew to accommodate does consume less, however it’s still nothing comparable to an onshore plant.
It work "economically" because you often manage to refuel in an port with low fuel price.
I have wondered if you could tow a barge with the processing, then incentivize the box transports to pull the barge along behind. There are challenges with seas and storms and things like the tow line breaking.
I read a proposal for an air extraction system that fit in a container, so that you could stack a few on a container ship and they would process air as they went from port to port. Typically power challenged though (you want some clean energy powering them). Nuclear powered container ships would be good for this.
Timewizard post is dead so I respond here. Disclaimer I should have put above: It was my first and only time I worked on a big ship. My position was deckhand but had the chance to learn a lot from others crew members.
> This is not remotely representative of "boats."
I talked about the consumption with the first mate and he wasn’t surprised. He’s a long time sailor. I’m sure there is a variety of boat types but I don’t think we were representative of those that consume the most.
> Were you on a ice cutter or a research ship?
It wasn’t an ice cutter. We were sailing mostly around The Channel (France/UK) so "average" air temperature (~ 5-15 celcius)
> This is why they made anchors and why sailboats can function even without power
If the seabed is too deep you can’t. Also dropping or pulling a big anchor isn’t trivial: you need to find the right spot (wind, currents, coast rocks, seabed material…), do some calculation for chain length, some deckhands to operate it, time to drop it slow enough and not destroy your boat (see anchor fails on YouTube) and sometimes a few trials to "anchor" the anchor (it can drift of above parameter we’re not optimal). Also there’s always a chance to break the chain during the process. I’m sure all of this is easier or even trivial for smaller boats or in easy condition like an archipel with not much wind, waves or current.
Sailboats are great but another level of navigation techniques.
Also, you don’t completely shut down the engines even if drift isn’t a problem : startup isn’t trivial either.
Boats consume way more fuel than a layman may think. I’ve been on a ~80m / 20people crew coast guard ship for 6 weeks and did a napkin math onboard based on tank levels and refueling date. It was +1000l/person/day of diesel (can’t remember precise numbers). We were moving ~50% or the time. In addition of the motors there were many BIG generators to make everything work: heating, sewage, hot water, AC, pumps, motors for cranes, anchor raising… you also need your motors running at least in low speed even when still to control your position and direction.
I’m sure boats acting like platforms and with less crew to accommodate does consume less, however it’s still nothing comparable to an onshore plant.
It work "economically" because you often manage to refuel in an port with low fuel price.