The TRYBRID Project will deliver a technology demonstrator for the new energy agenda, on a platform that has never before been seen : a fuel cell circumnavigation of  the planet, using energy in new ways  through onboard processing. Photovoltaic solar energy, will hybridize with a fuel cell, and a gas fired diesel electric, in a three way

combination, atop the triple hulled, TRYBRID.  To do this natural gas is steam reformed on demand,  to supply a hydrogen reformate gas, to power a PEM  fuel cell. As well, the 70% hydrogen brew, is added to internal combustion, to clean up the exhaust from the gas fired diesel electric system, (used for 20 knot sprint speeds). This revolutionary trimaran, will be taken on a 3 year circumnavigation of the world’s capital cities, in a partnership in negotiation between China and Australia.  The project is both a climate change ambassador, and a lighthouse for the clean use of gas based fuels. Given the inevitable ramping of oil prices, overlaid with climate change concerns, the TRYBRID project is, indeed, ‘An idea whose time has arrived’.

Australia’s world dominance as designer of the most efficient fast ferries, combined with leading edge EU hydrogen technology,  is being deployed by the Australians and Chinese, to confront and abate concerns around CO2, peak oil, and diesel emission toxicity.

Commercial spin-offs, in the marine and transport sector are substantive. A range of marine uses in recreational,  ferry and military use can be based on the fast, efficient TRYBRID platform, where speed over long distance does not come with a heavy fuel bill, nor a  sea movement inducing sea sickness. The lack of hot exhaust give the vessel a low infrared signature, which when combined to the boats ability to refuel on unrefined gas at sea, or to run on a choice of fuels, has clear implication for patrol boat deployment. The development of the engineering design and accreditation standards needed to promote gas as a marine fuel, is an important part of TRYBRID’s purpose.

More significant in the project’s commercial  application, is the shift towards natural gas as a stepping stone into hydrogen as a transport fuel. TRYBRID obviates the need for a specialist hydrogen refueling stations, and by laying bare the comparative efficiencies of both gas fired diesel combustion, and the fuel cell, at last, a hydrogen project is being honest about the energy needed to make hydrogen.  The uptake implications for transport, especially marine transport, are important.

This website details the boats design purpose and features. We look at the designers, builders, academics, government and industrialists who are engaged on the project, along with the aid teams with whom the boat will be working, after its world technology demonstration tour. This site is a blog that has tracked the  progress of the project. Feel free to add a comment.

The circumnavigation of an innovation solution like TRYBRID has the potential to penetrate the global consciousness, by taking the boat to the press, the politicians and trade delegates, at hundreds of individual ports, both on the coast and alongside rivers, across the globe.  This is a project coming to a capital city near you. The ease with which TRYBRID’s can be used to host environmental, trade and diplomatic discussion, is unprecedented.

The trimaran hull itself has been used as a fast, stable and low energy tool of indigenous fishermen through millennia. In the late nineties,  the same hull form was stretched to the same dimensions and weight as TRYBRID, in vessel known as Cable and Wireless Adventurer, which, with great fuel efficiency, dominated the around the world speed record for a decade. A rival project, claiming environmental credibility through bio diesel use, by the name of Earthrace, (again a long thin trimaran), only last year, broke the record, in wave of international press attention. The hull form is a proven concept, not only in terms of ocean crossing ease, but in terms of fuel efficiency.

Natural gas is in increasingly abundant use, as it is frozen and liquefied for overseas transport. TRYBRID rethinks the transport potential of natural gas, not just to ship it overseas, but as a fuel to propel ships. TRYBRID stores its gas in compressed form, in high pressure carbon fiber tanks, but there is both increasing interest and possibility, in refueling TRYBRID with the less bulky, liquefied natural gas, at the same time as floating LNG plants are being built.

Gas is not an uncommon fuel…what is uncommon, is its steam reformation, to take H2 atoms from both H2O and CH4, and instead of just burning the gas, the 70% H2 reformate ‘brew’, can be chemically converted into electrical energy through a fuel cell.  Reforming H2 onboard ship has only recently been pioneered by the navies of Europe, providing the ships ‘hotel’ power without a heat seeking missile’s infrared lock on, to the hot exhaust. This idea is the stepping stone technology to bypass the failure of the ‘hydrogen highway’.

But most of the world’s transport sector is still powered by the diesel or petrol engine. The unburnt toxic particles in diesel emissions are alleged to be killing 1.2M Chinese and Indians each year.  So as a transition technology, TRYBRID addresses this issue, by using the snappy ignition of hydrogen gas, to burn the corner s of the combustion chamber, by adding a dash of hydrogen to the gas mix fueling the sprint speed diesel engines. TRYBRID is the complete package in addressing the steps ahead, to reduce and clean up energy use in transport.

But no package is complete, unless it addresses all potentials. A multihull ship has an expansive roof space, and it is both inexpensive and logical to use this space for photovoltaic solar cells. The TRYBRID has an all solar cell roof, with ‘pop-top’ side cabins affording their ‘roof’ to be angled towards the sun . Under solar cell alone, TRYBRID will do 5 knots. There is no need for generators to power the ships refrigeration, desalination and air conditioning, and infact, solar energy can be stored in TRYBRID’s 2000kg of lithium battery bank, to make all short passages around the harbour completely solar sourced.

Original plans for TRYBRID had more emphasis on electrolyzing hydrogen from the solar cells, but currently technologies in electrolyzing, unlike steam reformation, have not been adapted for use at sea, where G forces throw the liquids in electrolyzers around. Extensive discussions in Europe during TRYBRID’s 2009 engineering due diligence, favoured using solar energy for direct use in propulsion, or for storage in batteries, where only a few percent of the electrical energy is lost, compared to over 60% lost when solar electricity is converted, compressed, and stored as hydrogen.

Another important element of TRYBRID’s drive to hybridize energy with extreme efficiency, is in the use of an all electric drive chain. The electric motor has high torque ideal to gain the maximum efficiency out of a propeller. With up to 60% of all energy generated being potentially lost through and inefficient prop, it is most important to address this issue with care. Step one is to swing a big prop, but newer steps, in engineering out of Holland, have added computer designed props to electric motors via sophisticated controller technology, to greatly reduce the propulsion inefficiencies.

By decoupling the prop from say the diesel engine,  twin diesel  generators can feed one electric motor, so each diesel is only used on demand, being kept in its fuel efficient, ‘sweet spot’ at all  times. The single, relatively bullet proof electric engine, can be fed energy from all or one of the  ‘trybridized’ energy sources… namely: solar cell,  fuel cell, battery bank, or for speed.. the diesel  generators.

The project has generated interest and debate at the marine colleges, and is an ideal vehicle through which several of the energy and hydrogen research projects linked between Chinese and Australian centres can find a hands-on linkage.

TRYBRID’s naval architects, One2three Design have a great track record in fast, fuel efficient fast ferry design. The builder of the world’s first hydrogen boat, and founder of the Marine Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association in Germany, Christian Machens, is the European Project Manager for the project.  Documentary film footage has been collected.  A media content and management team under Tim Levy is ready. The Chinese project management, for the China boat build and Chinese partnership, YCA, is appointed.  The Shenzhen marine industry has written to the Australian Government asking them to prepare and understanding of the project for talks. Diplomatic consultancy is engaged.  Overall Project Manager, and TRYBRID founder, Rod Davis has recently returned from a year’s engineering due diligence, and more recently, from negotiations in China, preparing the Sino-Australia partnership, where efforts in briefings for Shenzhen, Canberra and Beijing are underway.

Contact for the project can be directed to Rod Davis 61 418 235561, trybrid@yahoo.com

Many months on the road in Europe opened up a range technological connections and directions, to take the TRYBRID project from concept , to engineered solution.

Several days in Leipzig, Germany, with the founder of the Marine Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, opened up a range of opportunities and directions. Christian Machen’s who founded the association, was also the builder of the worlds very first hydrogen fuel cell boat. Christian will be TRYBRID’s European H2 Project Manager.

Important at this meeting , was a discussion about the emphasis that could be applied to the options and methods for generating and storing hydrogen. The TRYBRID has both natural gas, and photovoltaic energy as primary source of energy, to make and store hydrogen.

The solar generation of hydrogen makes 99.99% pure hydrogen, which when manufactured, stored and used, losses something like 60% of the original electrical energy generated. To refuel the boat for say an Atlantic crossing,  some 250 days of sunshine are needed. This is too slow. The other difficulty is the electrolyser itself. Whilst Statoil Hydro in Norway has the Inergon electrolyser coming on stream, its re-engineering to deal with the G forces of ocean use, are not well advanced, delaying and adding cost to the project.

The production of pure H2, has several storage related issues, for example, to pure H2′s need for difficult compression, where oil cannot easily be used in the compression pump motors, to avoid contaminating the pure H2. Storage difficulty raises the question; can H2 be made on demand, as needed, without being stored at all?

Talks with steam reforming leaders like Hygear in Holland, and WS in Germany, presented the ability of natural gas,  to be  steam reformed in amounts sufficient to supply a reformate based PEM fuel cell, at a rate that the fuel cell demands. This therefore precludes the need for pure H2 storage, allowing more conventional natural gas storage, to be the base energy source.

By steam reforming gas, the TRYBRID becomes a very transparent and honest demonstration, of the full H2 story, as so much myth still surrounds the understanding of H2, that for example, does not take into account the amount of energy needed to make and store H2 in the first place. H2 is as much an energy storage medium, as it is a pure energy. Trybrid, running both gas fired diesel engines, and fuel cell, will make a beautiful example of the step by step efficiency improvement, when you use the same energy, one burnt in combustion, and another, used chemically through fuel cell membrane. There will not be huge efficiency difference between the fuel cells, with the fuel cell at  the beginning of its evolution, whereas diesel combustion  is at the height of its evolution. But there will be positive difference.

So the conclusion from Europe’s meeting of minds, shifts the emphasis of TRYBRID, to a more logical stepping stone demonstration, as we shift from the carbon, to a cleaner H2 future, by using a cleaner, greener, stepping stone fuel, namely, natural gas.

This does not detract from the potential of TRYBRID’s photovoltaic power, which alone would power the boat to 5 knots of speed, or more. Small electrolysers, capable  of  ocean movement, could be deployed to add H2 to the mix, but its arguably better to store the electric energy from the PV cells, straight into 2000kg of lithium batteries, for ‘hotel power’, and for short runs around the harbour. At sea, any PV energy made, will simply be directed and used by the electric drive motor. This way, little PV energy is lost. Batteries loose  a  small percentages of energy deposited, whilst storing energy in H2, looses 60% or more of the original ‘deposit’.

The use of natural gas and H2 onboard ship has important implication and application for the transport sector. The project development, through the MH&FCA, affords links to engineering accreditation organisations. These organizations are seemingly keen to be involved. With oil being both dirty and increasingly expensive, there is considerable merit, in fact need, to promote the cheaper and more prolific natural gas as a transport fuel. Trybrid is a useful vehicle, on which engineering safety standards can be developed.

From patrol or military perspective, the ability to be able to refuel  from a rig, without the fuel being refined, has major strategic implications.

With LNG getting more traction, TRYBRID may well have the option of refuelling with natural gas in a frozen form, with obvious space saving potential, but talks on the logistics on global LNG refuelling are ahead. LNG’s production via floating refineries, already under construction, adds interesting potential. But core NG storage in high pressure, carbon fibre tanks.

Discussions with Nedstack in Holland, and Ballard the world leaders in PEM fuel cells, open doors to the new  reformate based PEM fuel cell, that run on a rich H2 brew, and not 99.99% pure H2. This shift in fuel cell thinking, has potentially profound implication for assisting the progressive shift from carbon fuels to fuel cells in transport. The suitability of this type of PEM, already deployed by the navies of Europe, where the steam reformer to match the fuel cell, has already been ‘navalized’, gives TRYBRID a great head start, with much of the engineering R&D complete, bar tuning the reformers to pure NG.

It seems the time is right, for TRYBRID, with the better suited technologies coming on stream, just as TRYBRID plans the world’s first circumnavigation by fuel cell.

There are other advantages in using the H2 rich brew, as the gas fired diesels onboard TRYBRID, to push the boat to sprint speed, can benefit from the availability of H2. Hydrogen cleans up and burns the much of the toxic particles in conventional internal combustion, demonstrated rather well, by putting a white sock over the exhaust pipe of a diesel engine. The sock goes grey quickly, when the diesel is burnt conventionally. The same sock stays cleaner a lot longer, when a dash of H2 is added to the gas, or gas and diesel mix. With 1.2Million alleged to be dying of diesel particulate emission in China and India each year, the emission quality is a big issue. TRYBRID solves this problem, and adds better efficiency to the process.

So the emphasis on natural gas reformed to hydrogen, makes TRYBRID much more in tune with the needs of the current world energy realities, where oil is expensive, where gas is clean, and made cleaner via the TRYBRID process, and where C02 is a dirty word.

The European connections also introduced the project to DA Electric in Holland, who have world specialist skills in designing the electric motor, to match the propeller, through advanced controller design. More than half the energy made by the propulsion motors, is lost when turning a rotating energy, to thrust through the water.  It’s extremely important, given this huge loss, to use the very best in technology and design to minimise this loss. Holland provides TRYBRID this solution.

TRYBRID, through months of work in investigations in Europe, now has the team , the technology, and the suppliers, to move into detail engineering and construction.

The TYBRID project is investigating the use of natural gas to make hydrogen for two purposes, one simply to use the pure hydrogen to power a fuel cell, and a second purpose of firing up the diesels with a mixture of mainly natural gas, with a dash of diesel and hydrogen.

Hydrogen enjoys the ability to be produced from a wide range of sources. One such source is simple water, where around 55kw of electricity is needed to make the rough equivalent of a US gallon of petrol, in hydrogen gas. This process is called electrolysis, and the closest you may have come to a roughly similar process, is when you saw the bubbles forming on the plates of conventional car battery. One of the other ways to make hydrogen, is in the process where 85% of the energy from LPG or natural gas, is transferred or ‘reformed’ to make hydrogen. This we hoped can be done onboard, in a small hydrogen reformer and PSA unit, separate from the hydrogen electrolyzer.

Eden Energy, based in Perth, and operational across the globe, promotes the use of a blend of both hydrogen and natural gas in combination, to both clean up the emissions, and then ‘sex-up’ the conventional diesel engine, all while the world awaits the more affordable release of the very efficient fuel cell. This blend of hydrogen and natural gas in the proprietary HYTHANE gas, blends to allow the diesel fuel component of a diesel engine, to be reduced to but a small fraction of the fuel use for TRYBRID’s diesel engines. With diesel prices rising to an uncomfortable and ever higher cost, the motive to minimize diesel use in the main combustion engines is as much about saving money, as it is to save the planet. Helpfully, despite losing say 15% of the energy embodied in natural gas to make hydrogen, the fact that hydrogen can then be used more efficiently to make electricity through TRYBRID’s fuel cell, adds motivation to the process of reforming hydrogen.

With only 20-30% of the 25kw solar sourced photovoltaic power being available after night time and cloud cover are factored in, there is added motive to not only electrolyze hydrogen from water, but to make it on demand from natural gas. So accordingly, the TRYBRID design is searching for suitable reformers of either LPG or natural gas. Sourcing suitbale equiptment is difficult as protracted discussions with refomer manufacturers atest. Combining ‘free’ hydrogen from electrolyzed solar energy, with the more easily made hydrogen reformed from natural gas, could give TRYBRID several interlocked advantages, providing hydrogen in the larger amounts needed for full throttle powering of the 400kw diesel electric drive chain. This releases TRYBRID from dependence on diesel, saving a lot in fuel costs if onboard reforming is possible, whilst still allowing the fall back position, of running the diesel engine component on diesel alone. The emissions are substantially improved, such that a HYTHANE fueled diesel engine will burn more cleanly than an already clean natural gas engine. Timing changes are needed to diesel engines, as the very small molecule of hydrogen promotes rapid and spread out explosion of its hydrogen/natural gas and small part diesel fossil fuel mix, making the spread of ignition faster. India’s rapid shift to this technology, for use it its regular but dirty diesel buses is remarkable, and with near to 1,200,000 people dying of air pollution related lung disease in India and China each year, the imperative to clean up emissions is arguably more important than simply saving money on diesel fuel costs.

This diversification of energy sources, where hydrogen is the common denominator, is reflective of the broad hydrogen debate, where many ‘roads’ all lead to the one destination.

This a proposed as a composite energy approach on TRYBRID, that maximizes solar input, with one foot still in the diesel electric camp, whilst the other foot aspiring to cover natural gas feedstock to hydrogen production is a solution that could indeed calibrate and defines the world’s steps ahead, as we move progressively from fossil fuels to renewables. Trybrid is not so much about a ‘silver bullet’ solution, rather, it’s more about the ‘silver buckshot’ approach, as we face the new energy agenda. The potential ability of TRYBRID to demonstrate the full gambit of hydrogen, solar, diesel and natural gas energies all on one integrated package makes the project potentially very useful as a ‘see, feel touch’ demonstrator, capable of visiting and showing off to a vast number of the world’s capital cities, in a way that an industrial plant, a hydrogen bus project, or a series of lectures can never hope to attain. If the world community is to to keep up with the political imperative to shift towards new energy sources, it needs to see and understand working examples. This is TRYBRID’s role.

For those interested in the HYTHANE concept, and how hydrogen is extracted from natural gas, here below is a direct extract from Eden Energy’s site:

Step 1: Sulfur Removal

The natural gas (NG) or LPG feed first passes through an ambient temperature sulfur adsorption vessel. The proprietary adsorbent in this vessel has been specifically designed to remove sulfur species native to NG or LPG feeds as well as those sulfur compounds that are added as odorants for leak detection. The sulfur adsorbent has been proven effective in removing compounds ranging from H₂S and mercaptans to thiophenes such as THT. Since sulfur is known to affect the performance of all reforming catalysts, removing the sulfur prior to entering the reforming section ensures the highest level of reforming catalyst performance and maximum catalyst life.

Step 2: Reforming

During the reforming step, the NG or LPG feed is converted into a hydrogen rich product stream. At the entrance of the reforming catalyst bed, the feed, air and steam are mixed in proportions that are chosen to maximize hydrogen production from the given feedstock. The conversion takes place over a bi-functional catalyst that promotes both partial oxidation and steam reforming reactions in the same catalyst bed. This results in a direct transfer of heat within the catalyst bed and efficient production of hydrogen. The direct transfer of heat also means the process is responsive to changes in hydrogen demand requirements.

Step 3: Hydrogen Purification

Hydrogen purification is performed via the use of Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology. The PSA technology employed by HyRadix combines novel process hardware technology with proprietary adsorbents to attain a very high recovery of the product hydrogen. In addition, the process ensures removal of all of impurities such as water, CO, CO₂, and CH₄, which are harmful to end user industrial and fuel cell applications. This unique combination of technologies allows for a wide range of hydrogen purity control with the only product impurities being the inert components nitrogen and argon.

Step 4: Heat Integration

The heat integration step is key to achieving overall process efficiency. Heat is recovered from high temperature streams, such as the reactor section effluent or the PSA waste gas stream, and is used to preheat the feed streams to the reactor and generate steam for the reforming reaction. Additionally, any CO that remains in the PSA waste gas stream is converted to CO₂ before the waste gas stream exits the unit.

Ina few weeks, the TRYBRID will upload several hours of opinions from a range of experts as below, along with political views from environment ministers , state secretaries, and acting premiers, and many more.

The clear message from all interviewed, was the need for demonstration and educational projects like TRYBRID and the SEES schools programs, to bring the community along with the political and environmental imperatives we all face, as fossil fuels spell financial and environmental trouble.

Leading scientists, international hydrogen association leaders, together with hydrogen industry CEO and chairmen all weighed in with view, not only about TRYBRID, but also the broad hydrogen and new energy agendas.

Here is a sample of those who will be appearing in video on this site soon, and in the longer term documentary film, (with permission please from the WHEC web site).

Dr Klaus Bonhoff

Managing Director, NOW National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technologies
Dr.-Ing. Klaus Bonhoff, born in 1968, studied Mechanical Engineering at the RWTH Aachen, Germany and ENSTA, Paris, France. He finalized his PhD in energy process engineering at the Research Center Jülich, Germany in 1998. He then started his professional career as assistant to the Board of Directors at the Reserch Center Jülich in the field of energy and materials research and became then head of Fuel Cell Project at Research Centre Jülich. In 2001 he joined Ballard Power Systems GmbH as Manager for business development Europe. In 2003 he started working for DaimlerChrysler AG where he held various positions within DaimlerChrysler’s fuel cell activities including responsibilities for strategy, communications, global demonstration projects, political programs and market development. In 2007 he received a contract with the German National Government to coordinate the German National Innovation Program Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies (NIP). Since February 2008 he is managing director (chair) of NOW GmbH National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology, which was established to run the NIP as a public-private-partnership.

Dr Ulrich Buenger

Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Bünger Studied mechanical engineering, energy and chemical engineering at the University of Hannover, Purdue University/West Lafayette/Indiana USA and Georgia Institute of Technology / Atlanta USA. He spent 5 years as systems analyst and in customer service for 2 software companies in Stuttgart and Munich. He spent 15 years as senior consultant for Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik in Ottobrunn in the field of sustainable energy- and fuel supply concepts with a focus on hydrogen, natural gas and fuel cells for transport and stationary end-use. Since 2002 he has been co-ordinator of the European Thematic Network on Hydrogen Energy (HyNet), initiator, WP-co-ordinator of the European Hydrogen Roadmap Project (HyWays) and coordinator of the European H2&FC demo-project planning activity HyLights, and has participated in various hydrogen strategy bodies and roadmap projects such as the transport group of the Implementation Panel (2006), NorWays (2007) and GermanHy (2007). In 2003 Dr Bunger was Assistant Professor for “hydrogen energy systems for distribution, storage and end-use” at the Technical University of Norway (NTNU) in Trondheim, and since 2004 he has been a partner of Ludwig-Bölkow Systemtechnik/Ottobrunn.

Dr Barry Jones

Hon. Dr. Barry Jones, AO, FAA, FAHA, FTSE, FASSA, FRSA, FRSV, FACE, FAIM is a writer, broadcaster and former Labor Minister.

A Member of the House of Representatives for the Victorian Electorate of Lalor 1977-98, in the first three Hawke Governments he became Australia’s longest serving Science Minister 1983-90. He was a Victorian State MP 1972-77. He served as National President of the Australian Labor Party 1992-2000 and 2005-06.

In 1985 he became the only Australian Minister invited to address a Summit meeting of the ‘Group of Seven’ northern industrial powers, in Ottawa. In 1987 he chaired OECD’s review of the Yugoslavian economy.

He is the only person to have been elected as a Fellow of all four Australian learned Academies: Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE) in 1992, the Humanities (FAHA) in 1993, Science (FAA) in 1996, and Social Sciences (FASSA) in 2003.

In June 1990 he took part in an international think tank invited to investigate ‘perestroika’ in the USSR and make recommendations to Mikhail Gorbachev.

He served on the Executive Board of UNESCO in Paris 1991-95, as Vice President of the World Heritage Committee 1995-96 and a consultant to OECD.

In 1999 he was appointed an Adjunct Professor at Monash University and elected as a Visiting Fellow Commoner at Trinity College, Cambridge. He became Chair of the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority PAHSMA) in 2000, a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne 2005-07 and a Professorial Fellow from 2007.

Dr David Hart

Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London
David Hart has consulted and carried out research on fuel cell and hydrogen issues for a wide range of organisations worldwide, including national governments, major industrial companies, financial organisations and NGOs. In addition to his work as a Director of E4tech, he is also Head of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research at Imperial College London’s Centre for Energy Policy and Technology (ICEPT), and sits on the Steering Committee of the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium, one of the leading global fora for fuel cell experts.

David is recognised as one of the leading experts in hydrogen energy technology and infrastructure, and the associated policy and environmental issues; and in fuel cells used for transport, portable and stationary decentralised power generation. He has led over a dozen fuel cell and hydrogen assessments for due diligence work, in addition to strategic analyses and a wide variety of reports and papers, and has been an invited keynote speaker on fuel cell and hydrogen issues on five continents. David holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering with German from the University of Bath and in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, and his PhD at Imperial College was in Hydrogen Energy Systems. He has worked in Germany and Japan as a control systems engineer, and speaks English, German, Japanese and French.

Mr Bob Rose

Robert Rose founded and manages the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, the business association of the industry, and the Breakthrough Technologies Institute, which manages the internationally known Fuel Cells 2000 program.

Rose has served as a US Senate aide, advised state and regional governments, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector, and supported adoption of environmentally beneficial technologies and policies.

Rose wrote Fuel Cells and Hydrogen: The Path Forward, a comprehensive public-private partnership for fuel cells and hydrogen. He has many other writing and speaking credits and is a frequent news source. Rose received the prestigious Fuel Cell Seminar Award in 2004.

Mr Gregory Solomon

Executive Chairman, Eden Energy Ltd
Mr. Solomon is Executive Chairman of Eden Energy Ltd. and Tasman Resources NL. His primary responsibilities within the group relate to corporate, legal and commercial matters as well as the marketing of Hythane® in the Asian Pacific region. He has had more than 20 years experience as a director of technology and resource companies in Australia and has been involved in establishing a wide range of projects and joint ventures in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia. Additionally, over the past 20 years he has been a director of seven companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and has wide experience in all aspects of corporate & commercial law, compliance, management, fundraising and finance. He is a founding director of Hythane Company LLC and Eden Innovations Ltd. Mr. Solomon is based in Perth, Western Australia, and holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Western Australia.

Eden Energy Ltd is a fully integrated global hydrogen company, specializing in hydrogen production, storage & transport fuel systems, including the near-zero emission Hythane (a hydrogen-methane fuel blend). Eden was just chosen to supply and install the first public hydrogen dispensing station in India to supply fuel to motor vehicles running on either hydrogen or Hythane®.

Dr John Wright

Dr John Wright is the Director of the CSIRO Flagship Program, “Energy Transformed”. This is one of six CSIRO Flagship Programs aimed at focusing R&D on issues of national importance in key areas of the Australian economy and environment. Previously, Dr Wright was Chief of CSIRO Energy Technology, a position he held from 1994 to April 2002. In this role, Dr Wright was also the coordinator of the CSIRO Energy Sector, responsible for the strategic development of all CSIRO’s energy portfolio and activities.

A boat spends more time stationary, than it does at sea. Boats are also exposed to a lot of sunshine and wind: they are in effect, excellent platforms for harvesting renewable energy from wind and sun. We became frustrated at the prospect of having a possible 20kw (or greater) energy supply, with nothing to do with it, after we had filled the batteries and chilled the frozen foods. Hydrogen was the solution, as all you need to make it, is water and electricity…..oh, and in 2008, almost a million dollars worth of hydrogen generator, fuel cell and carbon fiber pressure tanks. Our aim is to demonstrate what can be done with 2008, with existing technology, knowing, with a degree of optimism, that the market will drive prices down into everyone’s reach, given time. At the time of writing this post, oil spiked close to $US140 per barrel, and no doubt will be much higher by this time next year. And they fretted about $100/barrel. The angst has just begun.

So what have we added? For uses under non arduous sea conditions, and for all the time on anchor, we have almost doubled the solar energy production capacity, by rolling out photovoltaic awnings, and by placing solar cells on top of 4 large trampoline nets, connecting the trimaran’s 6 corners. There are two large awnings at bow and stern. The 11m ‘booms’ otherwise used for an ‘A’ frame mast rig, (for simple down-wind sailing), are used as a central boom for the solar deck awnings. These awnings will suit the new flexible solar cells.

The trampoline nets suit clip on placement of regular, frame of foam core backed solar cells. Overall, these trampolines add huge sun facing capacity. The nets can be removed for tough sea passages into oncoming swell. The under-laying stainless rigging cables, can stay ready, in place. The aft trampolines can likely be deployed semi-permanently, with less wave damage threat. The cell by cell layout is morphed into a general net area, shown in the recent 3D, above.

Also shown above is the side, pop-top cabins, with their PV cells raised, conveniently forming an accommodation cabin at anchor. There is a huge area of photovoltaic cells on the boat before the trampolines and awnings are factored in … enough to happily propel the boat at low speeds near 6 knots. But as mentioned above, whilst the added solar will make simply sun powered motoring quite successful, the real purpose of adding free source energy, is to electrolyze hydrogen on all those lay days when boat is not passage making.

As a former world sailor, the job of getting up on dark, dangerous, heaving foredeck, to change a head sail at 3am in the morning, is no fun. But with solar sailing, all the work of powering the boat is done at the dock, under calm sunny skies. The sailors work, of setting out the awnings and trampoline nets, can be done BEFORE heading to sea. Most of action around the boats energy production can therefore be happening when the boat is most idle.

This indeed turns idle into ideal.

It’s windy out, there on the world oceans. No inconvenient mountains or trees diminish the wind’s power out on the big blue. But most of a boats life is at anchor, moored up, where the wind still blows. But unlike sailors battling flapping headsails in the middle of the night, the wind that sweeps over a boat can be used and stored, even whilst the boat is unattended. In TRYBRID’s shift to hydrogen gas, as a core energy storage medium, all of a sudden the boat design has a big appetite for energy to make hydrogen via electrolysis. So we have added wind turbines, to be deployed at anchor. Lots of them. A small wind turbine, that won’t slice an arm off, can still generate 500watts.

Add 20 such wind turbines, and we are talking a serious addition to the boats 20kw photovoltaic arrays, with another 10kw of potential power, for a relatively low cost, compared with solar.

Some have joked that a boat covered in spinning drums or fan blades, won’t end up covered in seagull shit. There is an advantage to a boat seeking free energy primarily from the sun, to gain a big boost, if it can also generate power at night, when the wind will still blow, after the sun has long gone. Sorry seagulls.

Solar cell and wind turbine technology is well advanced, and ready to use off the shelf, but to date, the planet has been slow to introduce serious marine applications that have been designed from day dot, to be harvesters of solar and wind. TRYBRID changes this paradigm. And with a good reason: to pump, clean, toxic -free hydrogen gas into compressed canisters. Energy to go.

There is no huge line up of mechanised transport that can boast the ability to not only use renewable energy, but to also produce it onboard. In essence TRYBRID is potentially the first closed loop, trans ocean transport ever introduced…a means of transport that can both make and store serious amounts of its own fuel . Unusual.

At the end of the ‘experience’, those involved don’t just get an academic information hit, but also, the experiential wisdom that comes from ‘having been there’. And ‘being there’ means building a small solar boat, or a small hydrogen car, in team’s, ‘do-it yourself’ effort, followed by competitive deployment.

Take a look at the web sites for the Solar Boat Challenge, and the Hydrogen Car Challenge.

CEO Tim Levy and Event Director Angela Levy, together with Chairman Marcus Adler all share a vision of a new energy future, brought to our doors, through understanding and awareness.

TRYBRID’s Rod Davis hopes to add further educational interest at university levels in the not too distant future, with the aspiration that the TRYBRID, once launched, can provide a seagoing experience to the competition winners, providing the logical working example, that may have started, in younger years, with model making, through to pilot-able models used for older ages, and possible solar hydrogen leagues being added for tertiary grade use, before final graduation to a ride aboard the 120ft TRYBRID.

The film and TV production house that is part of these challenge’s core skill, will also be deployed to chart and record the efforts of these educational and awareness generating projects, with filming commencing at the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in June 2008, and tracking TRYBRID design and construction progress, at the same time as school projects are engages in the journey.

The general layout drawings ( in many editions) were evolved in a 2D format, but the real job of making it all come together, in a three dimensional form, is where the real design sculpting starts. From a cardboard model, to a 2D plan, then on into 3D plan, the naval architectural process is candy for those with hungry imagination. Next, from 3D, we move to the hard-nosed hydrodynamic and engineering work that will test our efficiency concepts across new software platforms. This next phase will spit out the loads, that the engines will be up against. From this, engines performance can be specified, and the also, the slower performance predictions for the boat under solar power alone can be predicted, and in another step, the performance prediction figured, when we add in fuel cell hydrogen power, and finally, under full throttle conditions, using diesel electric drivers, we can determine practical top speeds.

The odd fun exploration drifts in and out of the design process, such as the umbrella solar arrays mushrooming out of the current schemes, as we look at adding more photovoltaic cells on trampoline nets, and rows of wind generators…..all under consideration, both now and ahead.

As the naval architecture shapes up, the project manager is on the phone and net daily, scanning the world for the best in hydrogen manufacture, storage and fuel cell choice.

Its indeed a fascinating and engaging process.

So it has begun. TRYBRID is going to not only use hydrogen as a fuel store, it’s going to make its own hydrogen, using the free solar electrical source, through electrolysis, to make then compress hydrogen into a series of carbon wrapped, high pressure storage cylinders.. There is no rocket science here. There is no equipment to invent. It’s an ‘off the shelf’ plan…which we qualify by saying upfront, that the hydrogen equipment we need is both expensive and new, and only found on a few ‘shelves’ here and there around the world.

We were a bit astonished to realize that such a plan, namely to create a means of transport that manufactures its own fuel aside of using it, makes the TRYBRID almost unique in the history of long distance mechanized transport. It would be fair to say, that whilst entirely possible, there will be a lot of design learning ahead, through this project. It would also be fair to suggest, that viewed from a 2020 perspective, there is little doubt that the deployment of hydrogen powering systems in 2009/10 will be fraught with less than optimum gear, as is the case, when they invented the first automobile. But the planet can’t wait until oil runs out, or CO2 wrecks the weather, and many of us, here on this small planet, must start bringing together the available 2008 technology to demonstrate that hydrogen is a viable fuel source now. It may be clunky and expensive, but it obviously works driving buses and cars now,  so the next step is to add self-production electrolyzes on board, to close the loop on energy use and production, and create an unique working example that you can see, feel and touch.

At the start of this process, we have plan that may indeed change as we progress our engineering exploration through 2008. The plan proposes to maximize the photovoltaic sources, with added solar cells and likely added wind turbines. Before the hydrogen plan, we had little use for the energy made at anchor. With hydrogen generators aboard, bubbling away to make hydrogen, we then need to compress the gas, and store it high pressures, at pressures maybe twice as high as you would use in recreation diving, and using light, carbon fibre wrapped ‘sausage’ shaped canisters.

The hydrogen gas, whether, made onboard, or delivered by tanker, can then be used to make electric power to drive the propeller via a fuel cell. The hydrogen could be burnt, with less efficiency, in normal combustion engines. It can also be used in the onboard diesel to improve their combustion burn, and reduce its emissions. Whether we will be able to use the hydrogen at full throttle for many days is unlikely, but we are about to find out, just what can be done with 2008 technology onboard.

Safety is indeed a big issue, but hydrogen is certainly not as volatile as say petrol vapour, and unlike the gases that have traditionally leaked into boat bilges, and then blown them sky high, hydrogen is lighter than air, and thankfully drifts upwards, not downwards. If TRYBRID is going to become a demonstration platform for hydrogen introduction, it will need to be meticulous on safety, as any explosion would do damage to both the boat and the industry, something neither the project nor the hydrogen industry can sustain. That said, hydrogen is currently powering public transport, so we are in a workable field.

We are, here in May 2008 at the threshold of this design. For the record, let’s record the way we will proceed as we see it now. Firstly, we will electrolyze hydrogen gas using the sub 25KW PV and wind turbine power we have available. Whether the gas then needs to be compressed, or whether we will use the Avalence hydrogen generators that make the gas already compressed, we will have to see. Our goal will be to use the gear that can produce the hydrogen for the least electrical energy…constrained by weight and size. We will likely store the hydrogen in carbon wrapped cylinders at pressures over 5000psi, and we would hope to store maybe 250kg of hydrogen, in maybe 30 3m by 0.5m canisters at weight penalty of maybe 7 tonnes (nearly all in the canister weight), and we aim to offset this 7 tonnes through a reduction in the 4 tonne battery bank, and a reduction in diesel and diesel tanks. If we can balance the books here, in terms of weight, we will be happy.

Whether we deploy the very expensive fuel cell at a size capable of pushing the boat at a speed of over 20 knots, or whether we will use hydrogen for speeds below 10 knots and below 50-100kw of power use, will soon become apparent. The purpose of this project is as much about the journey as the destination. We are all bound on this planet, to a low carbon future, and we are all about to take this journey in one form or another. So join the journey. Stay tuned to this project’s progress, and the doco’ being made to record the journey.

Australia boasts being the world’s leader in fast ferry design, and the designer in Australia with the best track record in hull efficiency, is the design group, One2Three Design, based in Sydney.

Critical to efficiency at sea are two core things, minimal skin friction, and excellent hull shaping to, well, deal with those pesky waves you find out there. Add light, well distributed weight, and some good old fashioned sea keeping abilities, and TRYBRID is indeed leading naval architecture into a filed on new ideas. The very long thin central hull is doing most of the heavy lifting, and the width of multi-hull not only provides stability, but also, the expansive platform needed to support huge areas of photovoltaic solar cells.

In a small loft office just south of Sydney Airport, Steve Quigley, Rob Tulk and 3D guru Esteban are working in collaboration with project manager Rod Davis, to progressively work up a hull form that is super easy to propel, practical to deploy, and rather original in form.

There has been many ideas generated and explored, but the basic principle of keeping the hull radically long and narrow are core to the efficiency sought…we need speed yes, but not by wasting energy getting onto, and staying on the plane, on an ocean that ain’t flat.

The photos give a peak into the One2 Three design office, where weeks have been spent shaping up the designs, first in a general plan layout, and the into 3D, as now.