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Calliban,
The most practical option for cargo delivery without engines or batteries is wind power: sails made from modern fabrics and spars made from modern composites, arranged diagonally in a multi-spar, stem-to-stern sail configuration. It's realistic to sail gigantic, sail-powered cargo ships at 10-15 knots. The ships are obviously slower, but using very little fuel during the entire voyage.
Yes indeed. If the wind is used to drive turbines mounted on the deck, then the ship can sail against the wind without needing to tack.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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Calliban,
There's probably no practical way to use limestone for a shipboard thermal battery, but that doesn't mean cities couldn't benefit from huge limestone thermal batteries with limited temperature differentials and compact, low-cost Iron-based SCO2-powered turbomachinery using massive thermal reservoirs (the earth and sky) to create always-active thermal engines that pump or desalinate water. I'm still fascinated by the idea of using mostly natural materials to build staggering-scale energy machines that provide essential services to humanity.
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