PARIS (NBC News) - The first self-sufficient boat powered only by emission-free energy arrived in Paris Tuesday for its first stop on a six-year trip around the world.
Energy Observer, a former multi-hull race boat converted into a green vessel equipped with solar panels, wind turbines and a hydrogen fuel cell system, will be powered by wind, the sun and self-generated hydrogen.
The technology fitted to the 100-foot boat, which is also equipped with a kite sail, will enable the production of hydrogen through an electrolysis process.
According to the director of the research institute which devised the boat's energy system, Energy Observer is a good example of what energy networks will look like in the near future with its mix of renewable energies and hydrogen storage system.
