The Fountain Pajot-Dufour Yachts Group, based in France, has become one of the largest builders of sailing yachts, multihulls and monohulls, in the world. They also have made a serious commitment to making their company and their boats as carbon neutral by 2030…six years from now.
The Group’s initiative this year, called Odyssea 2024, has several prongs, including reducing waste and toxic emissions during the manufacturing process, partnering with suppliers to reduce carbon emissions and developing propulsion systems that are as efficient and green as possible.
The Group notes that 20 percent of the carbon emitted by the company comes from manufacturing while 80 percent comes from the diesel exhaust from the boats they build.
So, the strategies under the Odyssea 2024 umbrella, and specifically in what they call the OD Sea Lab, are focused on reducing diesel exhaust with hybrid diesel-electric systems. The end game, they suggest, will be to eventually replace a diesel generator with a hydrogen fuel cells that emit zero carbon exhaust.
The current propulsion systems offered for both FP catamarans and Dufour cruising monohulls is called Smart Electric. Like most hybrid propulsion systems, Smart Electric uses a large lithium-ion-phosphate battery bank that drives the electric motors. The battery bank is charged in normal use by a 16kW diesel generator that is much more efficient than a standard diesel auxiliary engine.
In “silent mode”, a Dufour 53 solely under electric power will have a range of about 40 miles, which is plenty for leaving and entering harbors, anchorages and marinas. In “motor-sailing mode”, with the sails up and drawing and the electric motors running at low revs to boost boat speed, the Smart Electric system will add two or more knots and run for up to 12 hours.
The battery bank can be charged with the diesel genset and this can be supplemented with hydro-charging from the spinning propeller(s) while sailing, and from solar panels, wind generators and shore power when in a marina.
As FP-Dufour reiterate, the eventual development of hydrogen fuel cells will close the carbon-neutral loop and they predict the company and their boats will get there by 2030. While many companies and boat builders are moving in this direction, particularly in Europe, it is great to see a leader like FP-Dufour Yachts Group making real commitments to a carbon neutral future.
Learn more here. https://www.fountaine-pajot.com/cap-vers-la-decarbonation/
