I was reading an article about an electrically powered boat. Although the main aim of this boat is not to be purely powered by renewable energy, it could be. It is a sailing boat with an electrical engine. The idea is that the two Mastervolt batteries are charged by mains power when the boat is not used.
But what really makes it interesting, is that the batteries can be charged by putting the propellor in reversed gear when sailing. This will charge the batteries. So in effect, this boat can be used as 100% renewably powered.
The only real question is how long it takes to charge the batteries this way. And what do you do when there is no wind? It is good to see initiatives like these. I will continue to follow them to see how well these systems work, how efficiently they operate and how reliable they are.
Please let me know if you know of any working examples or projects that are currently under way. I am always interested to hear about these projects!