Rich, I think wood is considered carbon neutral. It isn't a "fossil fuel". Until this ship burns the carbon it contains is out of the atmosphere. Best case it sinks and sequesters its carbon at the bottom of the ocean.
Anyone who considers wood to be carbon neutral just isn't paying attention. You have to burn "fossil fuels" in one form or another to cut, transport, plane and finish, transport again, store, sell, transport again and finally fit for the boat. They you have to account for the fact that the living tree before it was chopped down was a carbon sink with a net carbon loss for the atmosphere, so all the carbon it would have absorbed for the rest of it's days needs to be added in. Bottom line, a used (i.e. already built) fiberglass boat is far more environmentally friendly than a new one made out of wood (or steel, aluminum or fiberglass for that matter). (Of course all of this only matters if you believe that carbon dioxide is responsible for global climate change. A line of thinking that isn't supported by science.)
Also, organic matter (i.e. wood) that is "sequestered" at the bottom of the ocean becomes oil.
That being said, I think electric motors are the more sustainable approach to engines and boats are a prime place for them to develop first. Once the technology has developed to the point that you have
efficient enough
electrical engines, better batteries (perhaps the new lithium based ones) and
efficient solar panels, wind turbines and water turbines, a boat could very easily become self sufficient in this regard. I suspect in another 20 years gas and diesel engines will be a thing of the past for boats.
