Wärtsilä recently introduced at Slush Helsinki 2018 a product its makers secretly hope will never see the light of day: a lifeboat for buildings. These can be used during severe floods and rising sea levels. The design is also primarily a call to the world to tackle climate change.
The lifeboat for buildings is not a real product, although it could be. Conceptualised and designed by Wärtsilä Ship Design, it combines the smart technologies the company previously introduced in both marine and energy. These include automatic locking, dynamic positioning and wireless charging. The autonomous lifeboat is powered by 100% renewable energy sources, such as synthetic renewable fuels and solar energy.
Not unpredictable
"This hypothetical lifeboat is a way for Wärtsilä to deal with the effects of climate change, something that is much needed at the moment," says Marco Ryan, Chief Digital Officer at Wärtsilä. "In fact, the concept is not as unimaginable as we initially think. The boats would have been useful in the recent floods in Italy and Indonesia. It is a sign for us to show that we have to do something together now. Otherwise, the unthinkable will happen and this lifeboat will really be built."
Slush is one of the world's biggest startup events and this year a central theme is a call to action: 'Let's change the course of the future'. "This is an open invitation to startups, partners, customers and future colleagues. We are keen to collaborate with engineers around the world and across industries to find smart solutions for energy and shipping. We at Slush are looking for perfect matches," says Steffen Knodt, Director Digital Ventures.
Don't wait
"We simply cannot afford to wait for the marine and energy sector to make improvements at the current pace. Climate change and scarcity of natural resources require innovative and creative solutions, which Wärtsilä is already developing, but we cannot achieve our goal of 'sustainable societies with smart technology' without good partners who share the same forward-looking vision," stresses Jaakko Eskola, chief executive officer of Wärtsilä.
"Technologies play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change. Sustainability has been at the forefront of everything we do for decades. Our sustainability targets call for us to reduce our own energy consumption by 7% by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gas engines by 15% by 2020. These targets must be achieved, among other things, to avoid a future where lifeboats are needed for buildings , "Says Marko Vainikka, Director Corporate Relations and Sustainability.
Source: Wärtsilä
