This is a hydro-powered yacht over 370 feet long superyacht designed by Sinot Yacht Architecture and Design. Let’s take a look at what this means and who owns it now. Well, hydrogen power is considered a green source of energy, which implies this yacht does not harm our environment. But what’s this hydrogen power? Well, hydrogen power uses hydrogen fuel cells which produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen atoms. When hydrogen reacts with oxygen across electrochemical cell water, electricity and a small amount of heat are produced.
Hydrogen energy was initially used over 200 years ago powering the first-ever internal combustion engine. It is light in weight, has easy storage options, and produces no direct emissions or any sort of greenhouse gases. There are various ways of producing hydrogen, it can be from fossil fuels, biomass, water, or a mixture of all three. Currently, over 70% of pure hydrogen comes from natural gas. This implies hydrogen power is safe for our future and hence this is a green source of energy.
Many media sources have reported that this yacht now belongs to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Sinot’s 370 feet long hydrogen-powered concept AQUA received lots of attention when it was unveiled at the most recent Monaco Yacht Show. However, it looks like designer Sander Sinot may have caught lightning in a bottle. “With every project, I challenge my team and myself to surpass ourselves,” he explains. “For the development of AQUA we took inspiration from the lifestyle of a discerning, forward-looking owner, the fluid versatility of water, and cutting-edge technology to combine this in a 376-foot) superyacht with a fully operational liquid hydrogen and fuel cell system that features ground-breaking in technology, as well as design and aesthetics.”
According to advanced reports, AQUA’s power is fuelled by liquefied hydrogen, stored at extremely low temperatures, in vacuum isolated tanks. The liquefied hydrogen is converted into electrical energy by Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, with water being the only by-product.
