eterno retorno

Workwise, mas não resisti, high as a kite.


a propósito de. interessante. da lota para o Alaska para a Alemanha.

May 25, 2008 (Alaska Journal of Commerce - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- -- A petition is circulating through Alaska's fishing communities in hopes of catching some breaks at the fuel pump. The price of diesel fuel has topped $5 a gallon in several Alaska ports and in many cases, the price of fish is simply not enough to cover the costs of tying loose.

"We want to get people's attention around the country that this is a very serious concern," said Kathy Hansen, director of the Southeast Alaska Fishermen's Alliance. Hansen discovered a bill introduced four years ago by U.S. Rep. Tom Allen of Maine that would give a temporary tax credit to small businesses, farmers and fishermen to offset high fuel costs. The bill, H.R. 2133, has languished, Hansen said, but Alaska fishermen hope the industry's efforts might breathe some new life into it.

Sara Stoner, a Petersburg fisherman, penned the petition to Congress that asks for an emergency tax credit, "or any other measure you can enact to offset the high cost of fuel and get us untied from the dock and out fishing." "From the smallest little fishermen to the biggest boats, everyone is suffering. I'm just 24 and my husband and I are just starting our business," Stoner said. "It's really hard to make all the payments and we're really struggling. So are a lot of other people."

(...)

It's back to the future for shipping and fishing boats. For the first time in more than 100 years, sail-powered cargo ships are crisscrossing the Atlantic. The BBC World News reported that the merchant ship Beluga made its maiden voyage from Germany to Venezuela in January. The kite reportedly cut fuel costs by $1,500 a day and reduced harmful emissions by 35 percent.

Nearly 90 percent of the world's goods are transported by ships. The BBC claimed cargo ships now dump more carbon into the atmosphere than all the cars and trucks combined. A company called SkySails based in Hamburg, Germany, is the apparent leader in wind propulsion on ships. Its single, oblong-shaped SkySails taps into stronger, more stable air currents 350 to 1,000 feet in the air. The system is connected to a computer in the wheelhouse, and can be launched, controlled and recovered in real time at the push of a button.

Cargo ships and fishing vessels with an average cruising speed of under 18 knots and larger than 75 feet are best suited to using sails, the SkySails Web site said. It said that all seagoing vessels can be easily retrofitted with wind propulsion systems.

(daqui).
Mas quem pensa que os problemas ainda são locais, que se desengane.