A former racing catamaran converted to be powered purely by renewable technologies has set off from Paris on a six year round the world voyage.
The 30.5 metre long vessel – known as Energy Observer has been adapted by a team of engineers to produce its own hydrogen fuel using renewably powered electrolysers.
According to the team behind the project – which is led by French explorers Jerome Delafosse and Victorien Erussard – the boat’s primary power source is a 130 square metre array of solar panels that cover its surface. This will be complemented by energy from two vertical axis wind turbines.
As well as driving the vessels electric propulsion system, these will be used to power electrolysers that will produce hydrogen from seawater for fuelling the boat during the night.
The vessel is also equipped with a kite sail that can be used to propel the boat during high winds. In this scenario, the tugging effect will rotate the boat’s propellers and could be used to generate more electricity using the boat’s reversible electric motors.
The project has been compared to Solar Impulse the Swiss led solar-powered aircraft project- in that its prime purpose is to act as a high profile demonstrator –to prove the performance of hydrogen and demonstrate that energy independence is possible.
So its a “Solar Powered” boat not a “Hydrogen boat”
You wouldn’t say it was powered by copper, just because the power passes through copper wires.
Hydrogen is just a medium the energy passes through
but would you have read the article if it had said “solar powered boat”? probably not. titles of articles are misrepresented to have you click and read them all the time.
In the days of sail, you could circumnavigate in about one year… so what is the point of taking six? Even Magellan’s expedition (the first) only took three!
Ian makes a valid point, although the article does specify the medium as hydrogen, not diesel, of which much the same could be said, and similar technology could be used to make and store diesel fuel on board, using Fischer-Tropsch reaction. I am unclear as to whether the F-T chemistry can be scaled down appropriately to the scale of this 30.5 m craft. Perhaps not.
Sorry, don’t agree with Ian D. We don’t say that electric cars are powered by coal, or nuclear energy just because the electricity is generated by coal fired or nuclear power stations.
Gentlemen, please!
I gather that Nelson’s (sailing) ships were capable of staying on station for up to a year: it was not their power system (free +water from rain, likewise) but provisions (food) which was the clincher.