US Launches World's First Hydrogen-Powered Commercial Ferry
The first commercial passenger ferry powered by hydrogen will begin to run on San Francisco Bay soon. This is part of a plan to get rid of diesel-powered boats and cut down on carbon emissions that warm up the planet. California officials showed off the ship on Friday. The MV Sea Change, a 21-metre catamaran, can carry up to 75 people. It'll travel along the waterfront between Pier 41 and the downtown San Francisco ferry terminal starting July 19, officials said. For the first six months, people can ride for free while it's being tested. Jim Wunderman, who's in charge of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority that runs commuter ferries across the bay, said, "This is a big deal because it's not stopping here. The group thinks this could change things a lot. "If we can get this thing working right, we'll see more of these ships in our fleet and other companies' fleets in the US and around the world." Can this tech make shipping cleaner? Sea Change can go about 550 km and run for 16 hours before it needs more fuel. The fuel cells make electricity by mixing oxygen and hydrogen in a chemical reaction that gives off water. This tech could help clean up shipping, which makes almost 3% of the world's total greenhouse gases, experts said. That's less than cars, trucks, rail, or aviation but still a lot - and it's going up. Frank Wolak, who leads the Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Energy Association, said the ferry matters because it's tough to cut greenhouse gases from ships. "The real value shows up when you think about all the ferries working around the world," he said. "There's a lot of potential here. This is how you can start to chip away at how much carbon your ports put out." Supporters also hope hydrogen fuel cells might power big ships one day. The International Maritime Organization, which makes rules for shipping, wants to cut its greenhouse gases in half by 2050. As burning fossil fuels keeps heating up Earth's air, Biden's team is looking at hydrogen to power vehicles, factories, and make electricity. They're offering $8 billion (€7.3 billion) to get the country's industries, engineers, and planners to figure out how to make and deliver clean hydrogen. (Source: Google Images) Environmental groups warn that hydrogen can cause pollution and hurt the climate. Right now, most of the hydrogen made worldwide each year is for oil refineries and making fertilizer. They make it using natural gas, which heats up the planet instead of saving it. In fact, a new study by researchers from Cornell and Stanford found that most ways of making hydrogen release carbon dioxide. This means we can't call hydrogen-powered transport clean energy yet. Proponents of hydrogen-powered transportation believe that producing hydrogen will gradually become more environmentally friendly. They anticipate increased reliance on wind and solar electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. With greater use of these clean energy sources, the process of making hydrogen is expected to become both cleaner and more cost-effective.
