“The idea of towing icebergs to the world's thirstiest regions goes back to the 1950s. Mougin began looking seriously at the concept in the mid-1970s. Technologies to handle such a massive undertaking didn't exist then. But they do now, thanks to Mougin, who at 86 is still working full tilt. A few years ago, he came up with the idea to enclose the bottom half of an iceberg with a skirt fashioned from insulating geotextile material to reduce melting en route. Then he imagined a scenario in which ocean currents could be used to help steer the tugboat pulling the iceberg and drastically reduce fuel consumption — a principle Mougin calls assisted drift. “
Time
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