Ahydrogen-powered ship is a vessel that useshydrogen as afuel source, typically in the form ofcompressed gas orliquid hydrogen. These ships generate propulsion and onboard power throughfuel cells orinternal combustion engines adapted to burn hydrogen. As themaritime industry seeks to reducegreenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen is being explored as a cleaner alternative to conventionalmarine fuels likediesel orheavy fuel oil. Hydrogen-powered vessels produce little to no direct emissions, with fuel cells emitting onlywater vapor, making them a promising option fordecarbonizing shipping. While still in the early stages of adoption, severaldemonstration projects,ferries, and small commercial ship have already begun operating on hydrogen, and research continues into scaling the technology for larger ocean-going ships.
In 2000, the 22-personHydra ship was demonstrated, and in 2003 theDuffy-Herreshoff watertaxi went into service. 2003 saw the debut ofYachtNo. 1, as wellHydroxy3000.[1] TheAUVDeepC andYachtXV 1 were shown in 2004. In 2005 the first example of theType 212 submarine, which is powered underwater by fuel cells, went into service with the German navy. In 2006 the 12-personXperiance was debuted, as well as theZebotec. In 2007 both the 8-personTuckerboot and theCanal boatRoss Barlow debuted, and in 2008 the 100-passengerZemships projectAlsterwasser went into service inHamburg. Also, in 2009 theNemo H2 and theFrauscher 600 Riviera HP went into service.[2] In 2013 theHydrogenesis Passenger Ferry project went into service.[3]
In February 2020 it was announced that the software tycoonBill Gates had commissioned the world's first hydrogen-powered superyacht, in a £500m signal of his belief that investment in newclean technology is the best way to cut carbon emissions.[4] Later, the yacht manufacturers refuted this news and claimed that they have no business relationship with Gates.[5]
The custom build was said to be based on blueprints for a 112-metre design "Aqua" publicised in 2019 at the Monaco Yacht Show by the Dutch marine architects Sinot.[6]
In 2023, Norwegian shipping companyNorled launched theMF Hydra, the world's first liquid hydrogen-powered ferry.[7] The 80-car ferry MF Hydra sails in Norway, using 4 tonnes of liquid hydrogen, two 200 kW fuel cells, a 1.36—1.5 MWh battery, and two 440 kW diesel generators. The 80cubic metre hydrogen tanks and the fuel cell are located on top of the ferry. The hydrogen is trucked fromLeipzig in Germany.[8][9] It sailed as a diesel-hybrid from 2022, and as a hydrogen-hybrid from early 2023.[10]
A wind turbine service vesselbunkered hydrogen in Netherlands in 2022.[11]
In November 2022, Approval in Principle (AiP) was granted byNippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) forKawasaki Heavy Industries's dual fuel generator engine using hydrogen gas as fuel, which will be installed on a 160,000 m3 liquefied hydrogen carrier developed by Kawasaki. Kawasaki intends to conduct a demonstration test of this engine after installing it on a large-scale liquefied hydrogen carrier which is planned to be commercialized in the mid-2020s.[12][13]
In 2023, a 500 kW hydrogen ship sailed in China.[14]
In 2010, Hjalti Pall Ingolfsson fromIcelandic New Energy has commented that ships are fast becoming the biggest source of air pollution in the European Union. He estimated that by 2020emissions ofsulfur dioxide andnitrogen oxides from ships will exceed land-based emissions in Europe. Hydrogen gas is already widely used in industrial processes and demand for it has increased dramatically over the last fifty years. Nearly all hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels. Six percent of global natural gas and two percent of coal currently goes to producing hydrogen. Hydrogen could be used to power ships with zero emissions from the ship itself, but producing the gas itself is not a low-carbon process if fossil fuels are used to produce it.[15]
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A big issue to be dealt with would be thestorage of hydrogen on ships, assuming that there would be no opportunity to refill them when out at sea,[16] although one can usewind power andsolar panels to generate electricity from the ocean while they are far from the shores and produce hydrogen, either onboard[17] or on ocean-borne stations.[18]
The need for ahydrogen infrastructure varies, where theYachtNo. 1 was fueled by a mobile hydrogen station,[19] the prototype HaveblueYachtXV 1 was intended to have onboard hydrogen generation, theXperiance andTuckerboot have exchangeable high-pressurehydrogen tanks which can be refilled at a localhydrogen station, thecanal boatRoss Barlow uses fixed onboard low-pressure solid-state metal hydride storage tanks and depends on a refilling station on the waterside, the ZemshipsAlsterwasser refills at a fixed waterside storage tank with 17,000 liters of hydrogen which is refuelled by acompressed hydrogen tube trailer.[20] Offshore charging[21] andhydrogen production were under construction in 2022.[18]
Hydrogen codes and standards have repeatedly been identified as a major institutional barrier to the deployment ofhydrogen technologies and the development of ahydrogen economy. To enable the commercialization ofhydrogen in consumer products, new model building codes and equipment, as well as other technical standards are developed and recognized by federal, state, and local governments.[22] The Germanischer Lloyd guidelines for fuel cells on ships and boats[23] is used for theHydra,Tuckerboot,Yacht No. 1,Zebotec andZemships.
| This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2020) |
The NEW H SHIP project was a 15-month project that started February 2004.FC-SHIP was funded by the European Commission underFP5 - GROWTH from 2002 to 2004. The Viking Fellowship is a Nordic project.[24] The SMART H2 project started in 2007 by placing afuel cell in the existing whale-watching shipElding.[25] Other studies have also considered various ways of combining fuel cell operations on board with air conditioning systems for operations while in harbour.[26] In order to gain a commercial advantage, the Norwegian government scheduled money for a regular hydrogen car ferry in 2016, to be operational in 2021. New rules are viewed as more challenging than developing the technology.[27]
In early 2020, thee5 Project began to design a hydrogen cell and battery powered tugboat.[28]