It's an all-time great line from the movies - "Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads." And just like Doc Brown in Back to the Future, when we talk about surfing on Lough Ree – we don’t need waves!
On Futureville Ireland this evening, Carla O’Brien, is going to harness the power of science to glide through the water on an eFoil with some help from instructor Dave Graham. Watch the video up top to see how she gets on.
An eFoil combines surfing, hydrofoiling and electric propulsion. It looks like a surfboard with an underwater wing (hydrofoil) that is connected to a powerful electric motor, usually mounted in a waterproof compartment beneath the board. The underwater wing pushes the board up and it looks to be floating above the water. Because the drag of the water is reduced it allows for greater speed too.
While this use of the technology is purely for fun, it can be applied to much bigger things - namely public transport. Hydrofoil boats could be used to ferry people around Lough Ree and along the River Shannon to the various new developments in the new city of Futureville.
Futureville Ireland is streaming now RTÉ Player.
To see how it can be scaled up, we visit Artemis Technologies in Belfast who are continuing the famous ship-building tradition of the city, while breaking new ground in sustainable travel. They are currently working on a large electric passenger ferry. Carla even gets to take one of their boats, the Pioneer of Belfast, out on the water.
Just like the eFoil, hydrofoil boats have underwater wings. These are attached to the hull with vertical struts which hoists the boat above the water. The eco-friendly vessels are pushed upwards by these underwater wings like a plane on a runway, being driven up and out of the water as they pick up speed.
This doesn't just enable the boat to travel almost silently as its hull is no longer being forced to part the waves, but it also reduces drag - and thus operating costs - dramatically. It would also mean the hydrofoil has a significantly lower impact on local flora and fauna along the Shannon and its lakes.
Futureville Ireland is the centre piece of RTÉ and Taighde Éireann's (Research Ireland) broadcast collaboration for Science Week.
For more Science Week on RTÉ visit www.rte.ie/scienceweek and go to www.scienceweek.ie for all the events taking place.
