{"id":12583,"date":"2010-11-23T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-23T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=12583"},"modified":"2010-11-23T07:00:44","modified_gmt":"2010-11-23T12:00:44","slug":"hybrid-tug-boat-cuts-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/hybrid-tug-boat-cuts-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Hybrid Tug Boat Cuts Emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every now and then we get to cover a story that is just simply awesome. For me, as a kid, whenever I wasn\u2019t watching Thomas the Tank Engine, I would desperately be trying to watch TUGS. I like the idea of tug boats. They\u2019re small but powerful.<\/p>\n

And now, a new study by the University of California, Riverside, has shown that the world\u2019s only hybrid electric tugboat does indeed reduce emissions.<\/p>\n

Tested at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the researchers at the UC Riverside College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) demonstrated that the hybrid electric tugboat reduced emissions of soot by about 73%, oxides of nitrogen by 51%, and carbon dioxide by 27%.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly these findings could be a real boon for cleaning up the shipping industry. While tugboats aren\u2019t the giant diesel-powered ships that they push around, this innovation could lead to a) a change through hybridizing all tug boats and b) a stepping stone for hybridizing larger vessels.<\/p>\n

The study can be viewed online at the California Environmental Protection Agency\u2019s website<\/a>(PDF), and is worth a look if you have even the slightest interest about cleaning up our environment. Or tugboats.<\/p>\n

Source: University of California, Riverside<\/a>
\nImage Source: Mr. T in DC<\/a><\/p>\n