A passenger ferry that emits zero carbon will be plying the routes between Denmark, Germany and Sweden in the next five years. FutureShip, a subsidiary of GL Group, has designed a ship that runs on a combination of solar power, fuel cells, batteries and wind power. It can hold 1,500 passengers and about 1.3 miles of parking space for cars.
The ship is built with a streamlined hull designed for traveling up to 18 knots (21 miles per hour) and would average about 17 knots (20 miles per hour). Storage batteries hold some 2,400 kilowatt-hours and a set of fuel cells totaling 8,300 kilowatts power the engines. Turbines capture additional electricity from the wind. Surplus electricity from the grid produces the hydrogen for the fuel cells, which is stored in tanks on board. There are no diesel engines and thus no emissions. Further efficiencies come from the shape of the hull and propellers.
Such vessels are designed for short trips, where the energy requirements are not as large as for long-haul shipping. The total cost, FutureShip says, is only about 25 percent more than a conventional ferry. While ferries don’t often use the heavy “bunker oil” that older cargo ships do, they do burn a lot of fuel –- about a ton per crossing. They also emit sulphur and oxides of nitrogen in addition to tons of carbon dioxide. So anything that cuts this back is a welcome step in curbing global warming. Via Discovery
