The world’s first hydrogen-powered (and obviously wind-powered) yacht, named the Zero CO2 is sailing around the Mediterranean using a fuel cell auxiliary motor. Lots of yachts, I kid you not, use petrol powered motors to maneuver around ports and in times of low wind.
The Zero CO2 will be a floating laboratory on a 10-month tour collecting scientific data about local pollution levels. The University Joseph Fourier (UJF) has installed a scientific platform for collecting such data.
The Zero CO2 hydrogen yacht will be presented at the Paris Boat Show in December 2009 and the scientific journey will begin in March 2010. The yacht itself has been built by RM shipyard of La Rochelle and the hydrogen fuel cell was created by CEA Liten of Grenoble, France.
I’ve talked about other hydrogen powered boats before like ferryboats, sloops, the Hydra 1 fuel cell boat and others. The Zero CO2 is a bit different however, in that it incorporates the public relations aspect of a demonstration vehicle with scientific experimentation expected to yield useful data about the Mediterranean.