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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday September 14 2016, @04:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-quite-production-ready dept.

Dubbed the "Solar Impulse of the Seas," the first boat to be powered solely by renewable energies and hydrogen hopes to make its own historic trip around the world.

A water-borne answer to the Solar Impulse—the plane that completed its round-the-globe trip using only solar energy in July—the Energy Observer will be powered by the Sun, the wind and self-generated hydrogen when it sets sail in February as scheduled.

The multi-hulled catamaran is in a shipyard at Saint-Malo on France's west coast, awaiting the installation of solar panels, wind turbines and electrolysis equipment, which breaks down water to produce its component elements, hydrogen and oxygen.

"We are going to be the first boat with an autonomous means of producing hydrogen," says Frenchman Victorien Erussard, who is behind the project—confidential until now—with compatriot Jacques Delafosse, a documentary filmmaker and professional scuba diver.

The round-the-world trip is projected to take six years.


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  • (Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday September 14 2016, @05:47PM

    by TheRaven (270) on Wednesday September 14 2016, @05:47PM (#401927) Journal
    The problem with conventional wind-powered ships is that their journey times were highly varied. This is a real problem in a world of modern inventory management, where it doesn't matter if your cargo is slow, as long as you expect it to be slow and it gets there on time. There have been some attempts to power large boats with kites up in the jetstream (where the wind is more predictable), which look promising.

    Unrelated, did anyone else hear Lord Percy from Blackadder II announcing 'I have obtained pure green!' when they read the headline?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @05:59PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @05:59PM (#401937)

    Unrelated, did anyone else hear Lord Percy from Blackadder II announcing 'I have obtained pure green!' when they read the headline?

    No, but I did hear Samuel Johnson muttering "Sausage?" when I read your comment.

  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday September 14 2016, @07:21PM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Wednesday September 14 2016, @07:21PM (#401974) Homepage

    Unrelated, did anyone else hear Lord Percy from Blackadder II announcing 'I have obtained pure green!' when they read the headline?

    No, but I do know he's had a fear of the sea ever since he was savaged by a turbot.

    (I didn't know what a turbot was for years, but I still found that line hilarious)

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @08:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @08:34PM (#402001)

    It took Francis Drake three years to go around the world. These guys will do it in six. I'll take Drake's three years plus variability over a dependable six years most of the time.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @11:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14 2016, @11:22PM (#402059)

      It goes twice as fast when the turbot button is depressed.

  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday September 15 2016, @01:01AM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Thursday September 15 2016, @01:01AM (#402088)

    Unrelated, did anyone else hear Lord Percy from Blackadder II announcing 'I have obtained pure green!' when they read the headline

    "I have forged a nugget of the purest Green my lord"!

    Also "Big, blue wobbly fing, what mermaids live in".