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What is an Electric Boat?

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Electric boats, or electric ships, are vessels that are powered with an electric motor. They often use renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar panels and towed generators. Many ships take a hybrid approach with sails or diesel engines as a primary power source with electric motors as auxiliary power.
In the period 1880-1920 electronic boats were reasonably common during a period of enthusiasm for all things electric. By 1920, diesel engines had taken over and this continues to be the dominant power source for boats and ships to this day. The primary advantage of diesel engines is their range but this is changing due to efficiency gains in technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and power storage.
It is estimated that 2.2% of global greenhouse gas production is due to shipping. Ships often burn a high sulfur content fuel oil, also known as bunker oil that contains up to 4,500 times more sulfur than is allowed in petrol for cars in Europe. As such, ship smoke contains sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons.
Overview: Electric Boat
Type
Sustainable Transport
Definition
A boat or ship powered by electric motors.
Value
Use of sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind.
Notes
A towed generator is a device that produces electricity when towed behind a sailboat.
Related Concepts

Sustainability

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Adaptive Reuse
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Daylighting
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District Heating
Do No Harm
Do Nothing Farming
Dollar Voting
Downcycling
Durability
Economic Bad
Ecotax
Efficiency
Electric Boat
Embodied Energy
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Environmental Justice
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Existential Risk
Farm Robots
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Future-Proofing
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Green Facade
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Greenwashing
Happiness Economics
Happiness Index
High-Speed Rail
Holocene Extinction
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Jevons Paradox
Keyhole Garden
Keystone Species
Land Footprint
Light Pollution
Living Street
Market Failure
Material Diversity
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Missing Market
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Natural Capital
Natural Resources
Nearly Car Free
Noise Pollution
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Outside Context Problem
Overconsumption
Particulate Matter
Parts
Passive Design
Point Of No Return
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Quality Of Life
Race To The Bottom
Rainwater Harvesting
Repair Cafe
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Resilient Cities
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Reuse
Rewilding
Right To Know
Safety By Design
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Silvopasture
Slow Design
Slow Movement
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Social Responsibility
Soft Engineering
Soil Carbon
Space Junk
Sunlight Transport
Superabundance
Sustainability
Sustainable Design
Sustainable Economics
Sustainable Lighting
Sustainable Materials
Tactical Urbanism
Uneconomic Growth
Upcycling
Urban Density
Urban Design
Urban Heat Island
Urban Reforestation
Waste Is Food
Water Security
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Existential Risk

An overview of existential risk.

Precautionary Principle

An overview of the precautionary principle.

Comparative Risk

A definition of comparative risk with examples.

Energy Efficiency

The common types of energy efficiency.

External Stakeholders

The definition of external stakeholder with examples.

Economic Bad

Common examples of an economic bad.

Win-Lose

The definition of win-lose with examples.

Climate Engineering

An overview of climate engineering.

Soil Carbon

Why carbon soil is important.

Environmental Issues

A few examples of environmental issues.

Greenwashing

An overview of greenwashing.

Global Warming

A definition and brief overview of global warming.

Environmental Justice

The definition of environmental justice with examples.

CO2 Per Capita

A list of countries ranked by CO2 emissions per capita.

Co2 Emissions

Nations ranked by total CO2 emissions

Social Issues

An list of social issues.

Local Issues

A list of common local issues.

Community Problems

A list of common community problems.

Environmental Problems

A list of common environmental problems.
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References

International Maritime Organization, Third IMO GHG Study 2014.