11:02am Tuesday 19th June 2007
By Richard Garfield
GREEN in name, green in nature - the Emerald floating in Swanwick Marina has the world's first boat fuel cell.
Developed by Voller Energy, the prototype Emerald 1kW fuel cell was showcased on a Beneteau 411 yacht on the eve of the Seawork marine trade show in Southampton.
Exhibiting the green fuel cell system was one more step towards commercialisation of the Emerald auxiliary power units (APUs) for Voller Energy, which is headquartered at Chineham's Kingsland Business Park.
The fuel cells convert gas into electricity, producing roughly the same amount of carbon dioxide as a person breathing, running from standard Calor Gas, propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The Emerald system has also been installed in a motor home and was recently featured on The Gazette's Business pages, in a portable cabin, showcased at the Site Equipment Demonstration (SED) show in Kettering last month.
Costing around £12,000, the fuel cell is housed in a self-contained grey box, under a seat on board the yacht.
The company's chief executive officer, Stephen Voller, said: "Fuel cell technology offers great benefits over the conventional generators that are normally used in the marine, construction and leisure vehicle markets.
"These benefits include low noise, low vibration, lower maintenance, low fuel usage and low emissions. However, fuel cell technology has been reliant, up to now, on proprietary fuels such as pure hydrogen, which is rarely available in these markets."
And Mr Voller has high hopes for the energy system.
"Fuel cells are one of those technologies that are going to develop rapidly over the next 10 years," he said.
"They will be as ubiquitous as mobile phones and computers are today, powering all sorts of devices."
Mr Voller said that in developing products such as the Emerald range of fuel cells, the company is assisting in the transition from today's high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy, using high-efficiency fuel cell systems as an important step along the path to the ultimate solution of the future - a zero carbon economy.
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