“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein
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The TRYBRID Project will deliver a technology demonstrator for the new energy agenda that has never before been seen: a project that will for the first time, close the loop on both use of renewable energy, and its onboard production. Photovoltaic solar energy will electrolyze, compress and store hydrogen, to be reused in extended ocean passages. Natural gas will be mixed with hydrogen to reduce the diesel consumption to around 15% of the fuel mix, and natural gas ‘reformed’ to make hydrogen. Hydrogen will also power a fuel cell, to power the main electric engine. The extreme trimaran hull form, with it’s demonstration solar hydrogen gear will be taken on a display tour of the worlds capital cities, in an effort to demonstrate that the new energy agenda is as much about today, as it is a dream of the tomorrow. Given soaring oil prices and carbon based climate change concerns, the TRYBRID project is ‘an idea whose time has arrived’.
Australia’s dominance as designer of the best of the world’s fast ferries, and a recent shift in the Australian government’s attitude around the dangers of CO2, and the risks of peak oil, combine to make the naval architectural design of this project, a logical Australian duty.
This website details the boats design purpose and features. We look at the designers, builders, academics, government and corporate sponsors who are engaged on the project, along with the aid teams with whom the boat will be working, after its world technology demonstration tour. The site follows the progress of the project, currently in the design stages. Read the rest of this entry »