Saturday, October 18, 2008

How much fossil fuel does the Greenpeace fleet burn every year?

A year in the life of the Rainbow Warrior - on a mission to stop coal | Greenpeace UK
The Rainbow warrior started this year in New Zealand, campaigning for the planet to Quit Coal. She took that single message to Philippines and then on to Thailand, blockading coal-fired power stations, branding the sides of ships carrying coal, rallying people to take the path of warriors against coal. The Esperanza picked up the same call in Australia as did the Arctic Sunrise in Spain and Italy. The history of the environmental activism has been a dress rehearsal for Climate Change. Coal is the greatest threat to the climate and must be stopped.

From South East Asia Rainbow Warrior sailed to the Mediterranean Sea with the same message ‘QUIT COAL’. She protested in Israel, Turkey and Greece. I took her command in Greece, and sailed her out of the Mediterranean in a terrible storm...

Finally [after the UK and other Europen countries], Rainbow Warrior will reach Poland where the next climate conference takes place in December.
The Rainbow Warrior | Greenpeace International
Gross tons: 555
Length: 55.20 m
Breadth: 8.54 m
Draught: 4.6 m
Maximum speed: 12 knots (2 engines, 3000 L/day)
Engines: 2 Diesel type Deutz M.W.M. 2 x 6 Cylinder, 2 x 500kW
Sailing Speed: 5-7 knots average
Sails: 650 m2
The Esperanza | Greenpeace International
Built: 1984 Poland Gdansk
Gross tonnage: 2076 BRT
Length o.a: 72.3m
Breadth: 14.3m
Draught: 4.7m
Maximum speed: 14 knots
Main engines: 5.876 BHP, 2*2.938 BHP Sulzer V12
The Arctic Sunrise | Greenpeace International
Length O.A: 49.62 m
Breadth: 11.50 m
Maximum Draught: 5.30 m
Maximum Speed: 13 Knots
Main engine: MAK 9M452AK 2495 IHP 1619kW
Aux engines: 2 x Deutz BF6M716 208hp (175 kva)
Bow & stern thrusters: 400 hp each

4 comments:

Dirk Hört said...

This question is a shining example of mediocre thinking by mediocre people. It is a typical non-question by people that hate greenism and reverse-engineer this hate to find suitable arguments, i.e. arguments that suit them. You are stupid. And simple! Your intense wish is that Greenpeace people wear bear skin and swing wooden bars above their heads an scream and growl. And if they don't do that, they are not consequent, weak, not-plausible and jokers after all. Well, dear 'thinker' in a modern society you have to use modern means to accomplish something. The last man that will ever fly in the last week of kerosene availability (which is soon), will be a Greenpeace eco warrior. And there is nothing to put up against it, apart from the crappy statements of angry, big children like you! You are nothing! Now don't get mad, but take advantage of this new insight.

Anonymous said...

Your answer, pathetic little Dirk, is indicative of a typical reactionary- arrogant, self-absorbed and derivative. Hoping that their officious outburst will intimidate the true progressives who see the innate anti-human, irrational parasitic soulless interior that is your reality.

Anonymous said...

Wow, looks like you hit a sore point, Tom!

While everyone - even Greenpeace - needs to operate within available technology, there must be some rationale to determine what efforts to protect the environment are worth the environmental destruction associated with each operation. Burning many tons of the dirtiest fuel available to take an old ship somewhere for a photo opportunity certainly seems questionable. Does Greenpeace even own a sailing vessel?

Was it really worthwhile to sail the MV Arctic Sunrise into the ice at Svalbard to put a piano on a barge (built for the purpose to look like floating ice and no doubt discarded afterward) so an Italian pianist could play some new music? He could have played in front a screen showing the same melting glacier, with the same effect and without hauling the production on a diesel-burning ship.

This isn't just an issue with Greenpeace. The Sea Shepherds are a well-intentioned floating environmental disaster, too. It seems very popular among environmentalists to travel to gather for conferences, getting there by jet aircraft and cars... ever heard of teleconferencing?

Anonymous said...

Dirk, as I see from your answer, seems like Tom asked exactly the right question... Think about it.