More sustainable boating – other considerations
WE HAVE heard of the move to electric drive and alternative fuel for cruising boats, but what about other measures which can reduce our carbon footprint when cruising our inland waterways?
Boat design and equipment:
On inland waters, the emphasis should be on maximum ‘miles per gallon’ and minimum use of fossil fuels for propulsion, hot water, heating and lighting – rather than building in ever more power-hungry facilities which are not necessary.
Boats designed for canal cruising are potentially very economical compared with the larger boats which can offer high performance in coastal waters, but use many times as much fuel. Here’s just a few ideas:
• Type of boat/Design of hull: if you have any influence over which boat to use, or the design of a new one – be sure to consider efficiencies, for the uses intended. For example, avoid the temptation to reduce ‘swim’ to maximise internal area, unfortunately rather common in recent years.
• Insulation (and window design!): ensure adequate insulation to reduce heating (or cooling) costs.
• Choice of domestic equipment: keep to 12v systems where possible.
Where 240v systems are needed (e.g. refrigerator) use a dedicated inverter (e.g. 300W) rather than have a large (e.g. 3000W) inverter ‘on’ all the time, as it uses more continuous current.
• Future heating might be with heat pumps, rather than all electric or fossil fuels. These may be either water or air source – but most probably water, which would use only about a quarter of the energy delivered.
• Incorporate at least some solar power – which can contribute to charging batteries according to area available and battery usage. At moorings wind generators can be useful for a similar purpose, and together with solar can reduce consumption from mains supply.
Boat handling:
Rather than assume the engine must be started every time you reach the boat – consider why it needs to be used: modern engines do not have to be left ticking over (unlike some early historic examples!) – remember some modern cars have engines which switch on and off automatically!
Here’s some thoughts:
• Motors could be switched off when queuing at locks, while locking (with more rope handling using the bollards) and at temporary stops (e.g. filling with water!).
• Manual handling skills should be encouraged whenever possible e.g. when turning, moving across the canal, etc. with pole or hauling rope.
• Main engines should not be run to charge batteries, (use solar panels, wind power, generator, fuel cell… on board OR at mooring).
• Speed should always be below that which causes waves – be conscious of flow at bank.
Waterway design and maintenance – for the navigation authorities!
Many canals (and some rivers) are still suffering from the backlog of maintenance identified several times over the past 50 years. While ‘deep enough to use’ may be satisfactory for some, the main environmental problems are that a canal that has a reduced cross-section over any or all of its length will cause extra fuel to be used by all cruising boats and a consequent deterioration in water quality due to turbulence, sometimes exacerbated by not dredging linear moorings.
It’s not good enough to respond to boaters’ complaints when siltation becomes noticeable. Here’s the message:
• Dredging regimes should constantly monitor underwater profile of all waterways in care.
• Dredging should maintain designed dimensions to ensure waterway cross-section does not reduce thereby increasing fuel use and reducing water quality.
• Winding holes should be preserved and maintained to full size and depth (opposite the towpath of course) – and provided at each end of summit levels and at the top and bottom of flights of locks, which would help to save water and energy.
• New visitor moorings with charging facilities should be provided for the use of cruising craft – particularly for electric drive boats – separate and additional to existing visitor moorings to avoid conflict.
Conclusions:
Choices should always include simpler and less power-hungry options. Remember:
Economy, Efficiency, Environment! Improve manual handling skills – rope, pole, etc. (and perhaps improve boating skills by trying different boats occasionally).
Campaign and assist with profile monitoring and dredging when agreed. There ARE proposals afoot to offer assistance to the navigation authorities with this task.
Use electrical power, be aware of both consumption AND future choice possibilities, as batteries, solar panels, fuel cells, heat pumps and other devices are in a fast-moving market – and unthought-of improvements and even solutions could be just round the corner!