At the end of the day what the Energy Observer is about to accomplish is more a “public relations” event that garners attention but does little to move the industry closer to viability. It doesn’t solve the production, storage, or distribution issues that hydrogen faces, or even move the needle.
No matter – I bit because it demonstrates the promise and potential of hydrogen. And it’s just an interesting story about the combined use of multiple zero-emission energy sources.
The Energy Observer is a 100-foot zero emission catamaran powered by solar, wind, and hydrogen. It recently docked in Florida in preparation for the final leg of its around-the-world journey that will take it back to France by way of stops in Washington, New York, and Boston.
Can you say photo ops?
Note that the journey started in 2020 so this has been a deliberate voyage. Still, it has traveled 63,040 nautical miles without the use of any fossil fuels.
In addition to solar and hydrogen, the ship employs what it calls “oceanwings” which are advanced automated 12-meter sails that increase the catamaran’s speed while lowering its energy consumption.
During the trip, the Energy Observer’s power mix has been 40% wind, 40% solar, and 20% hydrogen. As I said, this is a clever PR move where pro-hydrogen publications could portray the vessel as a hydrogen ship.
I’m poking fun at the story, but maritime transport – which I’ve previously covered – accounts for 3% of the world’s greenhouse gases. So as much as this event may be a bit “smoke and mirrors” the problem it is attempting to solve is real.
The team behind the Energy Observer plans to share what they learn. The “oceanwings” have already been deployed commercially on a freighter called Canopee, and a second ship is in the works. Energy Observer 2 will be a 400-foot cargo ship capable of carrying 5,000 metric tons. The second iteration will utilize liquid hydrogen.
I will not doubt bite on that story as well.
#hydrogen #hydrogenpower #maritimeindustry #zeroemissions #energyexplorer
