Yamaha has built the world’s first recreational hydrogen-powered outboard and is testing it on a 26-foot Regulator. So far, the range is only 50 nm, but Yamaha hopes to double that by the end of the year.
Yamaha is dedicated to developing clean energy. Earlier this week, it introduced a hydrogen-powered golf cart at the Yamaha Marine Innovation Center n Kennesaw, Georgia.
It worked with Roush Industries for the engineering involved in mounting three massive carbon-wrapped hydrogen tanks in the hull of a customized Regulator 26XO. The three tanks hold the equivalent of 25 gallons of gas. The high-pressure tanks store hydrogen at 700bar (the equivalent of 10,000 psi). Roush is in charge of engineering the fuel system, integrating it into the boat, safety, and testing.
The hydrogen-powered Yamaha on the Regulator looks like a Yamaha 450-gas engine, but it results in producing clean energy. It also is an alternative to electric-powered outboards. Martin Peters, the director of external affairs for Yamaha’s U.S. Marine Business unit, says that electric-powered boats don’t offer the range of gas engines. Yamaha hopes that its hydrogen outboard can produce greater range soon.
Yamaha also wants to focus on developing an infrastructure to support hydrogen-powered boats. Hydrogen is available in some commercial ports. And mobile trailers with hydrogen are available at Yamaha’s testing docks. Yamaha is also thinking about using offshore refueling vessels for hydrogen power.
A major advantage of hydrogen power is that it produces greater energy density than produced by batteries or gas. Indeed, 2.2 pounds of hydrogen contains as much energy as 6.2 pounds of gas (one gallon), and hydrogen produces 142Mj of energy per kilogram compared to 1.8Mj per kilogram in a lithium battery, according to Yamaha.
Read more at http://yamahaoutboards.com
