Towing an Iceberg to South Africa
June 6th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
“To make it economically feasible, the iceberg will have to be big,” Sloane says. Ideally, it would measure about 1,000 meters (3,281 feet) long, 500 meters wide, and 250 meters deep, and weigh 125 million tons. “That would supply about 20% of Cape Town’s water needs for a year.”
Sloane has already assembled a team of glaciologists, oceanographers, and engineers. He’s also secured a group of financiers to fund the pioneer tow, which he calls the Southern Ice Project. The expected cost is more than $200 million, much of it to be put up by two South African banks and Water Vision AG, a Swiss water technology and infrastructure company.
https://youtu.be/svKq044qrYU
With only 18% loss of ice, I think this could work.
All joking aside, I hope they pull this off. And they have calculated the losses, so there’s more to rely on than the fictional dialogue from Brewster’s Millions.
“The anticipated melt rate is about 0.05 meters to 0.1 meters per day from each side and the base, which would result in a reduction in size of about 8% by arrival—but certain factors, most notably storms, could increase erosion at the water line.”
The net they plan to make and tow it with strikes me as a wonder in and of itself. It was an interesting read.