SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger ship will enter service in San Francisco Bay as part of plans to phase out diesel ships and reduce planet-warming carbon emissions, California officials said Friday, pointing to the vessel.
A 70-foot (21-meter) catamaran named MV Sea Change will ferry up to 75 passengers along the waterfront between Pier 41 and San Francisco’s downtown harbor starting July 19, officials said. they said. The service will be free for six months as it runs as part of a trial program.
Jim Wunderman, chairman of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which operates cruise ships across the bay, said: “If we can do this successfully, there will be more ships in the fleet. ours and other people’s ships in the United States and we think in the world.”
Sea Change can travel 300 nautical miles and operate for 16 hours before needing to refuel. Fuel cells produce electricity by combining oxygen and hydrogen in an electrochemical reaction that produces water as a byproduct.
The technology could help clean up the shipping industry, which produces about 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, officials said. It’s less than from cars, trucks, trains or planes but it’s still a lot – and it’s getting higher.
Frank Wolak, president and CEO of the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, said the boat makes sense because it is difficult to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships.
“The real value of this is when you multiply it by the number of ships operating around the world,” he said. “There is a huge opportunity here. Here’s how you can start reducing the carbon footprint of your ports. ”
Proponents also hope that hydrogen fuel cells could eventually power ships.
The International Maritime Organization, which regulates commercial shipping, wants to halve greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century.
As fossil fuel production continues to heat the Earth’s atmosphere, the Biden administration is changing hydrogen as an energy source for cars, making and generating electricity. It is providing $8 billion to attract industries, engineers and designers to find a way to produce and deliver clean hydrogen.
Environmental groups say hydrogen poses its own pollution and climate risks.
Currently, the hydrogen produced worldwide each year, mainly for refining and composting, is made from natural gas. That approach is warming the planet instead of saving it. Indeed, a new study by researchers from Cornell and Stanford universities found that the majority of hydrogen production emits carbon dioxide, which means that hydrogen-powered vehicles cannot be considered clean energy.
However, advocates of hydrogen-powered transportation say that over time, hydrogen production is meant to be safer for the environment. They envision increased use of wind and solar power, which can split hydrogen and oxygen from water. As such renewable forms of energy become more widely used, hydrogen production should become a cleaner and cheaper process.
The Sea Change project was funded and managed by investment firm SWITCH Maritime. The boat was built at Bay Ship and Yacht in Alameda, California, and All-American Marine in Bellingham, Washington.
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Associated Press reporter Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report from Providence, Rhode Island.
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