San Francisco Readies Launch of World's First Fully Hydrogen-Powered Ferry

The San Francisco Bay Ferry system is adding a new, first-of-its-kind zero-emission vessel to its fleet.

Sea Change is the world’s first commercial passenger ferry to run fully on hydrogen fuel cells. Starting July 19, the 75-seat vessel will run three days a week between Pier 41 near Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building for free.

Though the route is short, officials celebrated its launch as a key initial step toward building a zero-emission ferry fleet.

While current ferries in the bay run on diesel and emit pollutants, the new hydrogen-powered ferry emits only heat and water vapor. Passengers can even drink the Sea Change’s emissions from an onboard water fountain.

“Communities near harbor seaports are disproportionately affected by diesel pollution from vessels,” Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), said Friday during a news conference at the Ferry Building. “So finding a future that moves away from that diesel and brings zero-emission vessels is why we’re all here, and this fuel cell ferry really provides that opportunity.”

A $3 million grant from CARB was instrumental in constructing the Sea Change, said John Motlow, chief strategy officer at Zero Emission Industries, the company that developed the fuel cells at the core of the Sea Change.

Randolph said projects like these are also important for the state’s emission reduction targets.

“The governor directed CARB and our sister agencies to bring that zero-emission future to life by 2035, where feasible, and the Sea Change is helping us chart that course, and achieve that goal,” Randolph said.

It’s worth noting that although the Sea Change doesn’t emit pollutants, some of the electricity needed to produce the hydrogen fuel still comes from natural gas, resulting in carbon emissions.

But Motlow said the emissions from that process are still less than the emissions produced by a diesel-burning ferry.

Motlow also noted that some of the electricity producing the hydrogen fuel also comes from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. And as those cleaner sources become cheaper and more abundant, the emissions involved in producing hydrogen fuel will drop.

“The data paints a pretty clear picture that ultimately green, renewable hydrogen will be cheaper to produce than hydrogen from natural gas,” Motlow said. “The cost of solar is so cheap right now and is only getting cheaper.”

Plans are also currently underway to add five battery-powered ferries to the bay’s fleet. The first of those could be ready for public use within two years, according to Seamus Murphy, executive director of San Francisco Bay Ferry.

Three of those ferries will operate short-range routes connecting several parts of San Francisco and Treasure Island. The other two will run on routes crossing the bay.

“And that’s just the start,” Murphy said. “We plan on adding many more battery electric vessels to our fleet, and we’re doing a lot of work on the shoreside to make sure that we have enough power from the grid to be able to make those services work.”

But battery-powered ferries, as they currently exist, aren’t viable for long-distance routes to places like Vallejo or possibly Redwood City.

“The batteries are a little too heavy, not energy dense enough to be able to operate over those distances,” Murphy explained. “But hydrogen doesn’t have that problem.”

In the future, hydrogen-powered ferries could be the main vessels on all long-distance routes across the bay.

“Our rule is we want to see a vessel in operation somewhere in the world that we could put on to one of our routes and have it operate in a way that doesn’t create longer travel times or less frequency,” Murphy said.

Although that hasn’t happened yet with hydrogen, the Sea Change could pave the way.

“It’s surprising how fast things evolve, how quickly people innovate,” Murphy said. “And I think that’s what we’re going to see happen with hydrogen as well.”