The News
Friday 29 of March 2024

Self-Fueling Boat Sets Off from Paris on 6-Year World Trip 


In this Tuesday, July 4, 2017 file photo, the Energy Observer, a former race boat turned into a autonomous navigation with hydrogen, sails past the Eiffel Tower on the Seine river in Paris,photo: AP/Kamil Zihnioglu, File
In this Tuesday, July 4, 2017 file photo, the Energy Observer, a former race boat turned into a autonomous navigation with hydrogen, sails past the Eiffel Tower on the Seine river in Paris,photo: AP/Kamil Zihnioglu, File
The boat will rely on sun or wind during the day and tap into its hydrogen reservoirs at night

PARIS – A boat that fuels itself is setting off around the world from Paris on a six-year journey that its designers hope will serves as a model for emissions-free energy networks of the future.

Energy Observer will use its solar panels, wind turbines and a hydrogen fuel cell system to power its trip. The 5 million-euro ($5.25 million) boat heads off Saturday from Paris toward the Atlantic.

The futuristic-looking 30.5-meter (100-foot) boat will rely on sun or wind during the day and tap into its hydrogen reservoirs at night. It produces its own hydrogen through electrolysis of sea water.

Originally designed in 1983, the boat enjoyed a successful career in open-sea sailing races before skippers Frederic Dahirel and Victorien Erussard and a French research institute converted it into the Energy Observer project.