In practice however, using hydrogen in the transportation industry is still in its infancy, and one of the biggest challenges of truly becoming a clean energy source depends on how efficiently it can be extracted and processed from other compounds, such as H2O (water) and CH4 (methane). Additionally, because of hydrogen’s basic structure and low energy density, it must be compressed to 5,00010,000 PSI to become viable as an onboard fuel source, and even then, the achievable range for the vehicle is not yet competitive with traditional carbon-based liquid fuels. These are challenges that will need to be further addressed through innovation before the necessary infrastructure investments will likely be made to distribute hydrogen fuels to the U.S. public. It is bold R&D projects like this that advance our understanding and take the necessary steps towards ambitious emissions reduction goals. PURSUING THE AUDACIOUS Roush is a name familiar to anyone who has followed stock car racing or performance vehicles, but the company is also pushing engineering limits in other industries such as aerospace, defense, and energy. Their experience with hydrogen fuel includes designing land speed record vehicles and spacecraft. As such, they were the perfect fit to join Yamaha and Regulator in this project, leading the integration of the hydrogen fuel system. This included not only the physical planning, but safety analysis and specifications development. For Regulator’s part, they repurposed the hull formof their 26XOmodel and retooled the underdeck compartments to facilitate Roush’s prototype fuel system. Notably to anglers, most of the forward storage and fish boxes are sacrificed to accommodate several large hydrogen tanks. Critical observers may point out that highly pressurized tanks alone–regardless of what’s inside them–are enough to cause quite an accident should they become compromised. That may be a valid point, but ultimately that will be up to engineers and industry experts to evaluate and design safety standards around hydrogen systems. “In the future, as we design boats, if this proves what we think it will, it could be very possible that we are designing hulls around these hydrogen fuel tanks,” concludes Maxwell. Certainly, industry observers and consumers will be interested to hear what comes of their real-world testing in the coming months and years. Pioneering new research and development is a brave and expensive undertaking that may not always succeed, but ultimately contributes to the betterment of our industry and its sustainability. And that’s what R&D is really all about: pushing the limits of our current abilities and learning everything we can from those efforts. 49 2024 SEASON
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