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Biofueled Powerboat Breaks World Record

The bio-fueled Earthrace now holds the world record for going around the world in a powerboat. Earthrace team hide caption

Late last month, a bio-fueled powerboat named Earthrace broke a world record, circumnavigating the globe in just 60 days, 23 hours and 49 minutes. The fastest previous time for a powerboat to circle the planet was almost 14 days longer.

The voyage was fueled entirely with biofuels, and the team behind the Earthrace craft says their powerboat has zero carbon footprint. Fuel supplies even included biodiesel converted from human fat removed via liposuction.

Pete Bethune, conservationist and skipper of Earthrace, talks about the project and its goals.

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Earthrace breaks record

Biodiesel-fuelled craft finally does it

Earthrace has broken the Round the World Powerboat Speed Record.

The boat has arrived in Sagunto, near Valencia in Spain, 13 days ahead of the record.

Earthrace took 61 days to circle the globe.

She left Sagunto on 27 April and needed to be back by Saturday 12 July to beat the mark of 74 days 20 hours 58 minutes set by British boat Cable & Wireless Adventurer in 1998.

It is the second attempt the international crew, led by New Zealander Pete Bethune, have made on the record.

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The first, last year, was beset by problems and was ended by heavy storms in the Med.

Getting the record will be just deserts for Bethune, who remortgaged his home twice to raise the funds to build the boat.

His motivation has been to raise awareness of the potential of biofuels.

The second attempt has been a claimed ‘carbon neutral’ project with the team donating to ecological schemes to cover all their air and sea miles.

Watch MBY in the coming months for a full feature on the project.

Meanwhile Earthrace is set to appear at the British Motor Show in July.

www.britishmotorshow.co.uk  

www.earthrace.net  

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James bond’s birthday gift to the rnli, new boats at cannes boat show 2024: absolute navetta 53.

A green voyage around the globe

Earthrace hopes to be the first high-tech powerboat to circumnavigate the globe on a renewable fuel known as biodiesel.

Two men in Bethune's crew were seasick on a hemp floor in the galley next to sacks of organic potatoes and life preservers. Bethune struggled to hang on to the steering wheel after 12 hours at the helm in stormy weather. He thought the boat was going to flip, and it was close.

"The wave picked the boat up sideways. It was f***ing scary," said Bethune, 41, a New Zealand native.

Bethune was here Thursday in touristy Fisherman's Wharf, where he retold stories of testing a one-of-a-kind, biodiesel-powered boat in rough seas. The 10-ton powerboat, called Earthrace , is specially designed with a needle nose to pierce through waves, instead of rising or undulating over them. The cabin stays dry thanks to three, 24-foot-tall hulls, making the vessel look like a Batmobile on water.

In June, Bethune managed to drive Earthrace through the middle of 40-foot waves barreling through Cook's Straight, which is also near New Zealand. But the storms near Manukau had the lightweight boat catching air.

"I've been the most scared in my life in the last two months," Bethune said during a tour of his speedboat.

Earthrace was docked in San Francisco as the main attraction of the Earthrace Project, a six-month, 30-city tour to promote renewable fuels that will culminate with an around-the-world speedboat race in March 2007. The wave-piercing powerboat, called a trimaran, is fueled solely by biodiesel , a so-called green energy source made from plant and animal fats.

Bethune, his crew and Earthrace's sponsors hope that breaking the world powerboat record of 75 days to circumnavigate the globe will raise awareness for biodiesel as a viable alternative to oil. Biodiesel has lower emissions, a smaller environmental "footprint" and "less reliance on dodgy parts of the world," Bethune said.

But this powerboat takes a lot of biodiesel. It holds as much as 3,000 gallons of biodiesel, enough to double the weight of the vessel. One refueling lasts awhile, however: It can travel from Vancouver to Acapulco, Mexico, on two full diesel engines tanks.

Bethune started his career as an oil exploration engineer, but he "swung over from the dark side," as he said, after researching a paper on renewable energy for his MBA in 2002. "In the oil industry, everyone knows that the reserves are getting smaller and smaller. Biofuels will come in and play a role in the transition from total dependence on fossil fuels," said Bethune.

As he got interested in renewable energy, he found himself drawn to powerboating, and had an urge to break the world record, as he tells it. Bethune began researching wave-piercing designs, which can travel at higher speeds than traditional speedboats by cutting through walls of water. That's when he took out a second mortgage on his New Zealand home for $750,000 and started talking to sponsors for Earthrace.

In all, it's taken $3 million in sponsorships and loans to get Earthrace this far.

The Earthrace crew started from New Zealand in July and has visited Samoa, Vancouver, Portland, Seattle and Hawaii, where biodiesel is the cheapest anywhere in the world at $2.50 per gallon, according to Bethune. (Biodiesel is typically equivalent to the price of diesel, but the fuel needs to go through a processing plant before it's ready for consumption.) From San Francisco, Earthrace will go on to Panama, several ports on the East Coast, and New Orleans.

The boat itself was designed by Craig Loomis Design Group and built by Calibre Boats, a purveyor of high-tech custom yachts. About 78 feet in length, the boat is constructed largely of a lightweight carbon composite, which is typically used in military aircraft, and Kevlar. It's also green.

The boat's lower-deck floor is made of hemp, a durable industrial fiber that's renewable and can withstand small impacts. Because hemp is the root of the plant Cannabis, the floor is green. The crew also uses organic compounds to keep barnacles off the bottom of the boat, in order to avoid using common waxy chemicals that leach out into the water. Using organic means, however, the Earthrace crew must clean the bottom of the boat once a month.

Bethune's been living on the boat for the last couple of months with three other crew members in tight quarters. The lower deck technically sleeps eight, but there are only six bunk beds that line the inside walls of the front of the boat.

Externally, the powerboat is silver with black symbols painted on its body. The boat's hulls are shaped like horns, and on those horns there are symbols meant to represent positive and negative influences on the environment. A warrior symbol in the shape of a spear, called a Taiaha, is also painted on the nose of the boat, signifying strength and power.

Facing waves any higher than 40 feet, Earthrace's going to need it.

Solving the World’s Toughest CFD Problems

Earthrace: Speed, Fuel Efficiency and Safety

Earthrace is a wave-piercing 78 ft. trimaran powerboat designed to circumnavigate the world fueled exclusively by biodiesel. Earthrace, which aims to demonstrate the viability of biofuel to to power a ship around the world, found  FLOW-3D  invaluable for simulating and optimizing their design performance.

 (We) were able to see how the boat was likely to perform in the different types of seas we were likely to come across on our global voyage. We were then able to modify the design to ensure that not only speed, but fuel efficiency and safety were taken into account. — Pete Bethune, skipper of Earthrace

Validating Hull Designs

One of the primary goals of the Earthrace design is to minimize fuel consumption. To achieve this, a unique hull design was conceived so that the boat pierces through waves instead of going over them. This design allows Earthrace to maintain a nearly constant speed regardless of how rough the sea conditions are.

Simulation plays an important role in validating new hull designs, since flow characteristics around the hull affect many aspects of the ship’s performance. However, simulating Earthrace poses challenges because traditional flow simulation tools assume the flow past the hull is relatively calm. In heavy seas, Earthrace is likely to experience significant wave forces all around itself as it pierces through waves.

FLOW-3D  was chosen by the Earthrace project because of its ability to simulate general 6-DOF motion of the ship hull while fully coupling its motion with the wave motion. The sea state is computed from a solution of the fully non-linear Navier-Stokes. The sea state is coupled with the ship hull’s motion, which is treated as a rigid body subject to 6-DOF motion (surge, heave, sway, pitch, roll and yaw) including the thrust generated by the ship’s engines.

XC Engineering , Flow Science’s associate in Italy, ran the simulations for Earthrace. The simulations produced an accurate prediction of the hull’s resistance including form drag, skin friction and interference drag. These results were validated against scaled model tests. As a result, the Earthrace team was able to hit the seas with confidence in their design’s ability to break the world circumnavigation record.

Learn more about the power and versatility of  modeling coastal and maritime applications with  FLOW-3D .

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Biodiesel Powerboat - Yenra

Green power boat features low-emission engines running on renewable fuel and a high-tech hull design

Better Biodiesel will provide biodiesel fuel to the Earthrace powerboat in its bid to set a new world record for circumnavigation. Earthrace is a 78-foot trimaran powerboat that will strive to circumnavigate the globe in a record 65 days. With the race slated for next year, its itinerary includes an 18-month educational tour now underway calling at 60 of the world's great cities to highlight alternative fuels while raising awareness about sustainable resources and the environment. Biodiesel fuel is made from plant matter and animal fats, is biodegradable and produces lower emissions than petrol diesel. The Earthrace will be the highest profile powerboat in the world, as well as one of the greenest with environmentally friendly technologies such as low-emission engines and hi-tech hull design. "Earthrace's fundamental purpose is to demonstrate that bio-fuels are synonymous with performance, power and leading edge-technology," said Earthrace Captain Pete Bethune.

Earthrace biodiesel powerboat under construction .css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

July 1, 2005

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Biodiesel Boat Abandons Circumnavigation Record

Led by skipper Pete Bethune, the boat visited ports along the way promoting sustainable design and renewable energies, and the crew, to a man, expressed the desire to take up the race again next year, most likely beginning in April.

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Sea Spectacles: 10 Cutting Edge Boats of the Future

If you’ve spent any time in a harbor, you’ve noticed one fateful failure: most yachts lack any semblance of uniqueness.  While the sea may be filled with countless cookie-cutter ships, there are some designs that stand out strongly.  To celebrate the works of today’s greatest boat designers, here is a list of 10 yachts that truly push the cutting edge of sea-faring design.

The Solar Sailor Sun-Powered Catamaran

The high seas — unobscured by trees or buildings — is the perfect location to harvest the power of the sun.  The Solar Sailor glides across the water on this axiom, fueled by the sun and its boundless energy.  Solar Sailor is not just one cutting-edge catamaran, but a series of ships powered by Solar Sailor’s system.  Be it a private yacht, a luxury cruise line or a colossal container ship, this system energizes the sea with the power of the anchor of our solar system.

EarthRace Biodiesel Powerboat

Like the Solar Sailor above, this boat is powered by the sun– but with an assist from the fruit of the earth.  EarthRace is a boat built to speed across the planet fueled by eco-friendly biodiesel.  Earth, water and seed were livened by the sun to sprout vegetation, and this vegetation was harvested to fuel the EarthRace superboat across our tiny blue planet.  EarthRace did so– and fast.  This amazing, high design ship sailed the seven seas in a mere 61 days (a world record!) powered without a single drop of oil.  That’s one hell of a feat… and this is one hell of an aggressive ship!   [ link ]

The Code X Yacht

Captain this catamaran across the clear seas and you’ll be the envy of everyone.  The Code X Yacht isn’t just pretty, she’s fast to boot.  Code X is a 48′ catamaran with 1420 horse power under the hood pushing this sexy beast to 80 knots.  If that’s too quick for your speed, take a look at the connecting piece over the catamaran– that solar panel will power an electric motor to 9 knots, a leisurely speed that’s perfect for entertaining sunset guests.  Fast and furious or green conscious, the Code X Yacht is hungry for the waters in your neck of the woods.  [ link ]

The Oculus Yacht

Oculus– in latin, the eye.  In this case, the “eye” in this yacht’s nomenclature is centered on the grand eye of the dolphin that inspired this design.  Oculus Yacht is a sea spectacle of the most true order, a shining example of aqua ingenuity in this watery world.   [ link ]

The Wallypower 118 Super Yacht

It’s official.  Ride the waters on this one, you’re either a Bond villain or a mad scientist.  The Wallypower 118 Yacht is an aggressive, angular poweryacht with the most progressive design on this list.  There is nothing more stylish on the seven seas than this Wallypower, and if you can prove otherwise, do so in the comments!

The Modern Houseboat by X-Architects

Scoop this modern houseboat out of the water and drop it in the hills of Hollywood, it would appear no different than the mid-century designs that grace that landscape.  The Modern Houseboat by X-Architects is a sea-bound home with the metal structure, the floor-to-ceiling windows that would make the architecture world jealous.  Okay, perhaps it’s not that progressive, but this is one houseboat you cannot ignore.  Lovely… [ link ]

The Sea Shadow Stealth Warship

If you see this one coming, you’re lucky– because it certainly won’t show up on your radar.  The Sea Shadow Stealth Warship is invisible to most radar systems of the 20th century, which is what made it a Navy secret until recently.  This sea-carving catamaran might be yours for a price, at it has faced retirement and is up for consideration by those at the Pentagon.  Can you imagine breaking the waves with this bad ass?  If money is no object, you might just be able to talk the Justice Department into pulling some strings for you… [ link ]

The Sea Phantom by Maritime Flight Dynamics

Does it look like a killer whale with corporate sponsor decals?  It does to us.  Then again, when you start it up, you won’t be laughing.  The Sea Phantom V-10 is a water-hungry sea beast with plenty of performance history.  Designed by Maritime Flight Dynamics, the Sea Phantom was built to reach cruising speed on the open water, then achieve a wing-bound “flight” to skip across the surface with it’s unique aerodynamic design. [ link ]

The Eden Luxury Motoryacht

The old woody’s of yesteryear have given way to a fresh new design sensibility in the world of luxury yachts.  The Eden Motoryacht is only typical in it’s size and function, it’s design is as organic and progressive as it comes.  From bow to stern, head to toe, the Eden Motoryacht carries it’s passengers in ultimate sea-friendly style.  We wouldn’t mind being one of those passengers ourselves… [ link ]

The Oasis of the Seas Cruise Ship

The world’s largest cruise ship– you’re looking at it.  While these images of the Oasis of the Seas may have been only renderings, this boat is now sailing on the open seas, passengers included.  The last time such bold claims were made, however, a ship of this sort sunk on its maiden voyage from Liverpool, England.  (side note– if this writer’s grandmother’s train hadn’t derailed en route to the Titanic back in 1912, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now.  no joke) [ link ]

If you had to break waves in one of these mega boats, which would you choose?  We might opt for that Wallypower yacht, we get excited thinking about how that one will break the waves.  Let us know which of these you might take into the wild blue yonder.  Afterward, check out these other TheCoolist features we think you might enjoy:

• Dry Tech: the 20 Coolest Umbrellas You’ll Ever See
• 30 Creative and Unusual Wine Label Designs
• Papercraft Perfection: 10 Amazing Master Origami Artists

This is a great blog! I was very amazed when I saw the different kinds of yachts. I know that those kinds of yachts are very expensive, it would take a lots of years for you to have one of those yachts. The designers of each yachts are very creative, like Boats for Sale . They also have their own creativeness when it comes to boats.

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New Site For Proposed Biodiesel Plant Is Outside City Limits Between Moscow And Pullman Without Taxpayer Subsidies

June 29, 2023 Evan Ellis News

The proposed biodiesel plant for the Palouse has a new location outside of city limits and without government subsidizes.

AgTech OS announced their new plan with a press conference on Thursday.  The company wants to develop a 200 million dollar biodiesel plant on 200 acres on the Moscow-Pullman Highway in Whitman County.  The site is the former Hawkins Development property which was intended for a strip mall that was never built.  It’s between Airport Road and the state line near Moscow next to Floyd’s and the new St. John Hardware.

The proposed facility is the same size as the previous plan that failed to move forward at a controversial site inside the Pullman city limits.  The plant will be capable of producing up to 11 million gallons of biodiesel annually using locally grown canola.  Up to 50 trucks a day would be bringing canola to the plant during harvest and about 10 trucks a day would leave the plant with the biodiesel.  AgTech OS needs to obtain a Conditional Use Permit from Whitman County’s Hearing Examiner which will include public comments.  The project needs several other approvals.  AgTech OS hopes to break ground on the plant next year and begin operating in 2025.

The new site comes after a previous controversial plan with the Port of Whitman County fell through earlier this year.  The port wanted to develop an industrial park in Pullman on Sunnyside Hill.  The proposal drew strong opposition from many local residents leading AgTech OS to pull out of their partnership with the port.  The port commissioners eventually dropped their plan for a new Pullman industrial park.  AgTech OS CEO Ernest Spicer says they learned several lessons from their failed effort with the local government.  You can listen to Spicer’s comments with the audio file below.

Many people who opposed the previous project stated they support a biodiesel plant just not in the City of Pullman.  Spicer noted that several people and entities opposed to the first plan in the city are now supporting the new site in the county.

During the initial effort the port commissioners stated several times that there were no other potential locations for the plant because of water availability.  Port Chairman Karl Webber also stated numerous times that the Washington State Department of Transportation would require a roundabout if the plant was on the Moscow-Pullman Highway.  Spicer says they did their own due diligence after leaving the port and found the water rights needed for the project and says that WSDOT will not require a roundabout at the new site.

The proposed plant will use renewable energy primarily through solar panels.  The facility will mostly use recycled water needing 10,000 gallons a day which would supply fewer than 50 homes.  Spicer notes that the plant will not smell and that the site will have plenty of room for trucks to keep them having to wait on the highway.  The project will be completely funded by the private sector unlike the previous plan which included taxpayer subsidies.  The plan includes developing commercial properties along the highway with the plant located behind those parcels.  AgTech OS is buying the land and the water rights from the Sand Road Land Group.

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Agtech takes another shot at biodiesel.

Jun. 30—AgTech OS has announced it will be taking another shot at building a biodiesel facility, placing the plant outside city limits on the roadside of Washington State Route 270.

Ernest Spicer, AgTech OS CEO, held a news conference Thursday afternoon touching on the company's proposed biodiesel plant plans, as well as addressing community concerns.

The agriculture technology company plans to buy around 200 acres from Sand Road Land Company, a local business entity, on the corner of Washington State Route 270 and Pullman Airport Road. The location is behind Floyd's Cannabis Co., between the cities of Moscow and Pullman. Spicer said the company has not bought the land yet, but plans to purchase it in the near future.

The proposed 550,000-square-foot facility will cost around $200 million to build, Spicer said. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2024 and last until 2025. AgTech OS will begin testing the facility in 2026. The company hopes the plant will be fully operational in 2027 or 2028, and plans on staffing it with about 45 to 60 workers.

Spicer said AgTech OS has been trying to create the biodiesel facility on the Palouse for around nine to 10 months now. The project began working in partnership with the Port of Whitman County, but plans fizzled following objections from Pullman residents. AgTech OS plans to build and operate the biodiesel facility independently.

In late January, the port tried to develop an Agricultural Advancement Campus of which a proposed biodiesel plant would have been its anchor tenant. The facility would have been on over 184 acres of land on the outskirts of Pullman, with 88 acres within city limits. It would have been near residential areas and the Pullman School District on Old Wawawai Road.

The port submitted its application to the city of Pullman on March 2 to rezone land designated residential to industrial. The proposal drew a critical response from some Pullman residents, who raised concerns about losing residential space, negative effects on home values and environmental worries. Several protests were staged and more than 7,000 people signed a petition in opposition to the development.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories President and founder Ed Schweitzer also sent a letter in early March stating the company disapproved of the plan.

AgTech OS announced March 21 it dissolved its partnership with the port and sought an alternative location for its biofuel facility. The port withdrew both its rezoning application and offer to purchase land partly within Pullman city limits April 20, killing plans for the campus.

Spicer said after some "stumbling blocks" a few months ago, AgTech OS reappropriated how it was going to address the community and negative sentiments associated with the past venture.

A large worry from residents was the location, rezoning residential land to industrial. Spicer said the community pointed AgTech OS to property on Pullman Airport Road, and it listened to the suggestions. No residential area is within a mile from the new proposed location, Spicer said, and the company has contacted all residents who would be near the property.

Another concern was light pollution. Spicer said the plant will be looking into motion control options as well as possibly turning off lights during the night.

Spicer said the plant will be run with renewable energy, getting most of its power from solar panels. He added the company has been working with Avista to feed excess power produced in the summer months back into the electrical grid.

Many residents were concerned about odors that could be associated with a biodiesel plant. Spicer said the plant will be processing virgin canola, which doesn't have a smell associated with the process turning the plant into fuel. He added odors typically come from recycling waste and grease, which the facility will not be doing as it will br processing only 100% virgin oil.

AgTech OS also looked to see how the plant will affect wetlands and the aquifer. He said the location is away from wetlands and their water system will not be putting harmful chemicals into the water or harm the aquifer in any way.

Spicer said around 10,000 gallons of water is estimated to be used daily, and about 1 million gallons of water will be onsite. Rather than using city water, Spicer said the facility will be pulling water supply from the aquifer and around 95% of water will be recycled.

AgTech OS will also be purchasing private commercial water rights of around 20,000 gallons a day. Spicer added this is almost double what the plant will be using and it will serve as a "cushion."

Spicer said there will be an opportunity for local canola farmers to partner with AgTech OS. He said the company will work with local farmers first before sourcing canola from outside vendors. Direct partners will have the option to use the plant's biodiesel fuel, and AgTech OS will offer supplemental price increases for farmers to store Canola later being processed at the facility.

The plant's maximum production capacity is 11 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year. Spicer said this is equivalent to 10 truckloads per day, which would be traveling from Washington State Route 270 through downtown Pullman to expedite its products. He added trucks are already transporting the Palouse's canola and the influx of trucks are already being seen in the area.

As well as biodiesel, the facility will produce and transport seed meal and 1,3-Propanediol.

Pearce can be reached at [email protected]

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Moscow Jewish Community Center "Tzemach Tzedek".

{{model.texts.religion}}: Orthodox

{{model.texts.rabbi}}: Rabbi Eliahu Bar

Tkatskaya Ulitsa, 46, Moskva, 105187, Russia

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