In the United States, San Francisco is experimenting with a ferry that runs on hydrogen

San Francisco Bay is crossed year-round by a public transport system of ferries that carry 750,000 people. And soon, some of those passengers will be traveling on a hydrogen-powered ferry. A first boat arrived in the Californian city on Sunday for some tests.

This experimental boat is called “Sea Change”, which can be translated as “radical change”, a sign of the ambition of the project. It is just over 20 meters long, which is to say it is smaller than the ferries crossing San Francisco Bay today. The catamaran can carry 75 passengers at up to 15 knots, or around 28 kilometers per hour. That’s slower than diesel-powered ferries, which top 50 kilometers per hour. Cost of the boat: 14 million dollars, partly financed by the Californian State. The following models will cost less but still 30% more than traditional boats. This is not yet the ideal solution. It has a range of around 280 kilometers and needs to be refueled roughly every two days. After several test outings for crews, the “Sea Change” should welcome its first passengers later this year and become the first commercial maritime vessel of its kind in the United States.

“The Future of Shipping”

Its fuel cells produce electricity using hydrogen. This means that the boat only emits water vapour, which is less harmful to the environment than a diesel engine but also more pleasant for the passengers on board, if only for the smell of water. ‘essence. The “Sea Change” contains ten tanks, 246 kilos of hydrogen compressed in all at a pressure of 250 bars. But the hydrogen used is not what is called “green hydrogen”, itself generated by renewable energy. To run this emission-free ferry, you still need methane and so if the vehicle is “clean”, what powers it is not.

Public transportation company San Francisco Bay Ferry is effectively looking to replace most of its fleet of 16 diesel-powered ferries with zero-emission vehicles by 2035. “This is the future of shipping”, assures its spokesperson. By showing that using such a ferry on a daily basis is possible, the “Sea Change” must prove that there are alternatives in the medium term, including for the huge container ships that criss-cross the oceans.

Japan, Norway and Belgium are also testing hydrogen boats. Maritime transport represents 3% of greenhouse gas emissions and its pollution is largely comparable to that of air transport.