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Energy Observer left the Port du Gros Caillou, with Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and also President of the C40 Cities network.
Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Paris, France - July 15, 2017
After nearly 10 days at our first stopover, Energy Observer left the Port du Gros Caillou, with Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and also President of the C40 Cities network.
A very privileged moment before taking the road to Boulogne-Sur-Mer the second stopover of our Odyssey for the future.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Before leaving, Anne Hidalgo visited the village with Victorien Erussard : virtual reality, and immersive diving, before joining the crew on the vessel, and unberthing it with Jérôme Delafosse.
The crew then passed the Eiffel Tower, last goodbyes before the next visit in 6 years after their Odyssey for the future.
Next stopover, Boulogne-sur-mer, from the 22th to the 30th of July.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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On 6 July 2017, Energy Observer was christened in Paris by Nicolas Hulot, Minister for Ecological Transition and supporter and godfather of the boat, in the presence of Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, Florence Lambert, director of the CEA-Liten and godmother of the boat, and Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse Foundation.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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It’s official, Energy Observer has finally been baptised.
Born in 1983 under the name of Formule Tag, it claimed the Jules Vernes trophy in 1994 as Enza New Zealand, and was reborn as Energy Observer and primed to make the first trip round the world on hydrogen and renewable energies.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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This founding moment of the adventure was preceded by a press conference at the Bateaux Mouches Club, port partner, to present the boat’s technologies and the first images of the voyage up the Seine powered by renewable energies and hydrogen to the Paris media, as well as to announce the tour of France that Energy Observer is going to perform until 2017.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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“Energy Observer, just like Solar Impulse, makes exploration work for a better quality of life. We need to lead people towards the future by showing them solutions instead of depressing them.”
- Bertrand Piccard, President of the Solar Impulse Foundation
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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It was then in Port du Gros Caillou, where the boat is moored until 15 July, that the crew, partners and press welcomed Nicolas Hulot and Anne Hidalgo, who had come for the occasion.
After a tour of the boat by Victorien Erussard, Jérôme Delafosse and Didier Bouix of CEA-Liten, it was in the central cabin that everyone gave their support to the project and to the crew.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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„Paris is a city which channels innovation and the desire to invent the future, with solutions from the future. There is a will among the inhabitants of cities like Paris to be proactive. We are not condemned to thinking that tomorrow must be worse than yesterday. I am convinced that tomorrow will be better, because there will be more respect for the planet and for the human beings that we are.”
- Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris
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Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and also President of the C40 Cities network.
Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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After the speeches, it was time for action: it was the turn of Nicolas Hulot to make the symbolic gesture of breaking the bottle of champagne on the boat’s anchor, under the emotional eye of crew team and the partners, but particularly of Victorien Erussard.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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„This is the third of my boats that Nicolas has baptised. He's the man who has done the most to stir my environmental conscience during all these years, so the fact that he is by my side to inaugurate this boat as Minister is a real honour, it was unexpected!”
- Victorien Erussard, Captain of Energy Observer
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Energy Observer is moored at Port du Gros Caillou until 15 July, accompanied by an events village that enables the public to discover the technologies and the Odyssey for the future project: exhibition, virtual reality, immersive 360° cinema.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Energy Observer goes back the Seine to the renewable energies and to the hydrogen
Setting sail
After 2 years in the shipyard, Energy Observer went through the 08.40 lock on 25 June, leaving Saint-Malo for Paris, the first stop on her 6-year tour of the world to promote ecological transition.
Final farewells to family and friends took place in the lock before setting out to sea.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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She headed for the open sea, sailing past Saint-Malo, Energy Observer’s home port.
On board were Victorien Erussard, Jérôme Delafosse, and a crew of navigators and engineers to manoeuvre this extraordinary vessel, as well as a team to film and take photos of this first experimental voyage.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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The first voyage
The first stage was to reach the open sea to get past the cloud front in order to allow the 130 m2 of photovoltaic panels to produce energy.
13 knots
That is the speed record reached by Energy Observer off Raz Blanchard, as she headed towards Cherbourg.
The crew began to find their bearings aboard, alternating between technical meetings and logistical organisation, without forgetting to make the most of their first evening at sea.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Le Havre
After arriving at night, Energy Observer remained in Le Havre for 24 hours, which was necessary for the CEA engineers to carry out maintenance on the fuel cell, and to welcome Pierrick and Jimmy, the two Bateaux Mouches captains who joined the crew to guide Energy Observer all the way up the Seine.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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She sailed under the Normandy bridge, came across freighters, discovered a wild section of the Seine…
Energy Observer began her voyage up the Seine while the crew continued to work on the vessel with one goal in mind: to get the fuel cell working in order to extend the boat’s autonomy to offset the thick cloud cover and rain during this first voyage.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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„The boat is very sea-worthy, handles very well and has excellent manoeuvrability. It's very encouraging for the next stage and suggests fine sailing ahead.”
- Marin Jarry, the boat's chief officer.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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„I felt like I was in Houston when Armstrong took his first steps on the moon: it was like NASA! We were all caught between concentration and excitement, with the ground crew on the phone not wanting to miss anything from this unique moment.”
- Victorien Erussard
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Rouen
In order to successfully get the fuel cell to work, the boat stopped again for 24 hours at Rouen in order to carry out maintenance on the hydrogen system.
A beneficial stop, because it was on the crossing to Conflans that Energy Observer would draw on its stores of hydrogen for the first time ever.
The effort paid off: she reached Paris under hydrogen power!
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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PARIS
After several days, the Eiffel Tower finally appeared on the horizon.
The penultimate leg that was initially scheduled for Boulogne Legrand would in fact be made to Port de Grenelle for docking reasons.
The crew enjoyed an exceptional view of “The Iron Lady” of France for two evenings.
Finally, on the morning of 4 July, Energy Observer turned back to Issy-Les-Moulineaux to complete a full voyage to the port of Gros Caillou, where she will stay until 15 July.
It is the occasion for the crew to capture this unique moment, which will not repeat itself for another 6 years, when the boat returns from its Odyssey around the world…
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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THE FIRST HYDROGEN VESSEL AROUND THE WORLD
Energy Observer is the first vessel in the world able to produce its own hydrogen on board, from sea water, without greenhouse gas emissions.
It is a real experimental platform which will carry out an unprecedented world tour using energies of the future, in order to test these technologies in extreme environments, and thus enable their implementation throughout the entire planet.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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TESTING THESE TECHNOLOGIES OUTSIDE OF LABORATORIES...
Ultimate clean energy and energy of the future, hydrogen is at the heart of the Energy Observer project.
For the first time, we will be able to produce it aboard the ship from the electrolysis of sea water, thanks to energy coupling.
More than a vessel, Energy Observer will be the laboratory of this new energy model.
Demonstrating the efficiency and performance of our complete hydrogen chain in hostile marine environments, will all the more validate its application on land, and allow its development on other large scale applications; maritime or terrestrial, mobile or stationary.
As a vessel of the future made in France, Energy Observer’s goal is to inspire businesses, communities, states, and citizens by proving that a cleaner future is possible through technological innovations.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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AN ODYSSEY FOR THE FUTURE
Energy Observer has given itself the mission to prove that an environmentally friendly future is possible by pro-actively designing it.
Thanks to an incredible odyssey around the world, the crew will question the nature of tomorrow's world: how will we transport ourselves?
Feed ourselves?
Build our homes?
Work?
Inform ourselves?
And not only in 100 or 50 years, but in 15, 10, or 6 years... or even tomorrow.
The future begins now- and it is up to us to lead it down the right path.
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Photo courtesy of Energy Observer |
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Source: Energy Observer
http://www.energy-observer.org/
ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.07.13
TOYOTA: Full-Scale Operations Begin for Showcase Project to Supply Wind Power-Generated, Low-Carbon Hydrogen to Fuel Cell Forklifts
https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2294
ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.11.04
Toyota Launches a New Boat, the New Ponam-28V Premium Sports Cruiser
https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2151
Editor-in-Chief of ASTROMAN magazine: Roman Wojtala, Ph.D.