Hydro Motion
For 15 years our boats have been successfully sailing on the power of the sun. This means 15 years of sustainable innovation and inspiring the maritime sector for 15 years. In 2020 the team took the big next step towards a sustainable maritime industry by exploring uncharted waters and starting a new project; the Hydro Motion project. The team built world’s first flying hydrogen boat!
This year, we show our renewed identity as the TU Delft Hydro Motion Team and we will continue exploring the potential of hydrogen. We will design, build, test and race a hydrogen-powered boat. The goal is to inspire the entire maritime industry by showing what is possible with hydrogen. Together we can take the necessary steps towards sustainable shipping.
We, together with our whole team, are very excited about the project! If you feel the same, follow us on our social media channels to keep up with our progress during the year @hydromotionteam
Hydrogen
Why do we use hydrogen to achieve our goal? As scientists have been warning for years, the supply of oil and gas will inevitably run dry, and the exploitation of these energy sources will lead to irreversible climate change. We need to use different approaches if we want to move towards a zero-emission future.
There are several options to generate green electricity. These include wind and solar generated energy. To come full circle it is essential that we do not only look at the supply side of the chain, but also pay attention to the way we store this energy. Right now, the industry tends towards the usage of chemical cells when it comes to storing energy and powering electric transport. However, this is only part of the solution to reducing carbon emissions in the transport industry, because different applications require different solutions and the demand of lithium is growing faster than the supply can satisfy.
This is why we focus on an alternative way of storing green energy. The most prominent contender in our opinion is hydrogen. Using hydrogen as an energy carrier has the benefit that it doesn’t produce greenhouse gas emissions when used to generate electricity. On top of that hydrogen -when converted by fuel cells- has an energy storage density approximately 235 times larger compared to industry standard lithium ion battery cells. This is a huge advantage when it comes to powering a vessel.
When we show what our boat can do, we prove the viability of hydrogen. By working together with the maritime industry itself we can inspire change. We are all part of a problem, which means we can all be part of the solution. Only by working together we can sail to a sustainable future!