BA Thesis Ecoyacht

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by akashara

Here it is called BA. It simply is a Bachelor degree, no doctorate.

I may have missed it but where is "here" and does your Bachelor's degree program require original research?

[sarafina]

Many Bachelors programs require a Senior Thesis class to graduate. Mine did. Did a 45 page paper on women in history as assessed on a generational basis.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by akashara

- right now we think a lot about the energy problem: a solution seems to be a fuel cell; it has a far higher energy density than batteries or fuel, and is completely without emissions. A fuel cell (in combination with solar panels) could obtain enough energy for a 1-2 week turn. The hydrogen needed could be carried in pressure tanks or bounded in a special granulate (which is safer).
even issues like the cooking gas could be solved with hydrogen.
- an idea was to create the hydrogen needed at the charter base; at the marina could be a device which gets hydrogen through electrolyse (you only need salt water, 2 electrodes and electrical power for it). the power could come from wind generators or from water or wind powerplants near the marina.

I suggest you to a true power budget for all this. Much of what you are contemplating requires shoreside power (for electrolysis, etc). This needs to be accounted for if your concern is to truly be "green".

The "Hydrogen Economy", much like all-electric cars, moves the pollution but it doesn't eliminate it. In some cases the net pollution is worse. In other cases it may be better. A fuel cell solution may be ultimately dirtier than a diesel generator -- it depends on the power-generation and delivery infrastructure.

There are available Alcohol-based fuel cells being sold for boat use. These might make sense, or they may not -- I have no idea.

If you are serious about this, do the math. It would be nice to see a real solution rather than a collection of currently-hot green buzzwords.

Do the math.