{"id":407692,"date":"2022-10-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/innovationorigins.com\/?p=407692"},"modified":"2022-10-17T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T09:00:00","slug":"sailing-towards-a-climate-proof-tomorrow-with-futura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ioplus.nl\/archive\/en\/sailing-towards-a-climate-proof-tomorrow-with-futura\/","title":{"rendered":"Sailing towards a climate-proof tomorrow with Futura"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Why we write about this topic:<\/summary>

Hydrogen technologies sometimes seem too sophisticated to the general public. In this case, it was proven how these can be used in common sailboats too. <\/p><\/div><\/details>\n\n\n\n

Lake Bracciano is one of the favorite ways for Rome inhabitants to take a break from the city \u2013 being only 30 kilometers away. One of the main activities is taking a boat trip in the lake \u2013 whose volcanic origin gave it a circular shape \u2013 to circumnavigate the 32 kilometers of shoreline. In this same scenario, a cohort of researchers and companies launched a hydrogen-powered vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Futura is the sailing boat developed by a consortium of Italian firms and institutions, including ENEA<\/a> – the Italian Government Agency for New Technologies, Energy, and Sustainable Economic Development. Lega Navale Italiana<\/a> – <\/em>Italian Naval League, LNI \u2013 also partnered up, while Arco-Fuel Cell<\/a> and Linde Gas Italia<\/a> provided the necessary components. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vessel managed to sail in Lake Bracciano for up to 5 hours on its electric engine. The 1 kWh fuel cell system transforms the hydrogen – H2<\/sub> – stored in a small tank into electricity. Futura can have 3 passengers on board \u2013 in addition to the skipper \u2013 and can reach a 2.5 knots speed, the equivalent of 4 kilometers per hour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe project consisted in installing in a regular boat commercially available hydrogen technologies. In this way, we wanted to prove that H2<\/sub> can be an easy-to-deploy solution,\u201d explains Viviana Cigolotti. She is the head of ENEA\u2019s lab on batteries and technologies for H2 <\/sub>production and use. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>
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In the air or on the water, hydrogen will soon power our journeys<\/div>
The mobility of tomorrow is green. There is no debate about that. What that green mobility will look like is another story.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Hydrogen shipping requires time <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hydrogen is deemed to reshape mobility in the next decades. The maritime sector makes no exception, as more projects are paving the way to its mass application. There is a wide variety of vessels, from cruise ships to small leisure boats. Regarding this, Futura wanted to be a proof of concept, showing that electric sailing is possible and potentially scalable to other kinds of ships too. Withal, many challenges are on the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, it is all about understanding the vessel itself in terms of fuel consumption and power. Furthermore, bigger ships have different needs than sailing boats and have different spaces to place hydrogen tanks. To replicate \u2013 or to improve \u2013 range of autonomy using H2<\/sub>, it is fundamental to identifying the available space on board for storing hydrogen,\u201d Cigolotti highlights. Therefore, every vessel requires a different hydrogen production and storage system redesign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides what happens when sailing, mainland logistic aspects have to be figured out. Cigolotti: \u201cHarbor infrastructures can\u2019t be shied away from, as they need to have the facilities to recharge and welcome electric ships.\u201d To accommodate the transition, docks and all systems related to them will have to be reshaped. ENEA itself is working on these solutions. In another project, they design hydrogen trucks for moving containers in harbors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Viviana
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Viviana Cigolotti <\/h3>

Head of ENEA\u2019s laboratory on batteries and technologies for hydrogen <\/sub>production and use<\/h4>

She’s responsible for several national and European initiatives on hydrogen at ENEA. <\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

More hydrogen-related projects <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the technical challenges, the legal framework could assist investments in hydrogen technology for shipping. \u201cAs it can\u2019t be still used as a fuel for shipping, how can ship makers think of investing in these innovations?\u201d Cigolotti points out.\u00a0The International Maritime Organization – IMO<\/a> – is expected to develop technical provisions for hydrogen and ammonia by 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a study by the University of Colorado, a large ship can use up to 250 tons of fuel per day. By large ships, they mean vessels having over 2500 passengers on board. Fincantieri<\/a> \u2013 one of the biggest shipbuilding groups worldwide \u2013 is already producing hydrogen cruise ships for MSC<\/a> \u2013 a main cargo and cruise operator. H2<\/sub> will be used to produce energy for alimenting the hospitality areas of the ship and to supply energy to the vessel when in the harbor \u2013 while engines are turned off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021 several reports from Norway informed that Green Ships<\/a> was working on a project to build hydrogen-powered ferries in the Mediterranean Sea.  Particularly, to make them operate on the routes connecting Corsica to Southern France and Sardinia \u2013 served by Corsica Ferries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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