Yanmar develops Maritime Hydrogen Fuel Cell System Towards a Carbon Neutral Society

Recent years have seen increasing efforts, all over the world, to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions towards the realization of a carbon neutral society. 123 countries and one region including Japan have already announced the goal of achieving net zero GHG emissions by 2050, and policies to reduce use of fossil fuels are being formulated around the world towards achieving this goal. For example, the European Commission recently announced its intention to ban the sale of new cars with gasoline and dieselpowered engines by 2035. At the same time, hydrogen is attracting worldwide attention as a clean energy source that can replace fossil fuels.
Yanmar has developed a fuel cell technology that uses hydrogen to produce electricity towards the realization of a carbon neutral society. This article introduces the development of the maritime hydrogen fuel cell system for ships and its demonstration test. Behind the scenes, there was a lot of collaboration not only inside the Yanmar Group, but also with the government, local authorities, and private corporations representing related industries.