Roughly two-thirds of all goods purchased by U.S. consumers are shipped to the U.S. by cargo ships and each of these cargo ships runs on an inexpensive, unrefined fuel called bunker fuel. As a result, cargo ships are responsible for 16 percent of all sulfur emissions from petroleum and 14 percent of the nitrogen emissions from fossil fuels according to a report by Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, cargo ships are prone to massive oil spills as seen in many parts of the world.

So, what does all of this have to do with flying a kite? Plenty! A new German company, called SkySails, is helping cargo ships reduce their reliance on fossil fuels by using wind power. The Beluga Group is piloting the product and has completed a maiden voyage with a SkySail. Just watch the video above to get a sense how the product works.

This type of innovation excites me and I can’t wait to see a version that completely replaces a cargo ship’s reliance on fossil fuel completely.