Bill Gates’s £500m eco yacht
Green machine that can sail 4,000 miles powered by liquid hydrogen
WITH £92billion in the bank, buying a superyacht was never going to be a problem for Bill Gates.
But, in these environmentally aware times, setting sail in any old gas-guzzling, air-polluting vessel was never going to do.
So the Microsoft founder has thrown £500million of his fortune behind the construction of the world’s first hydrogen- powered superyacht.
Aqua will run entirely on liquid hydrogen and feature an infinity pool, helipad and spa, according to the Sunday Telegraph. Blueprints for it were unveiled last year at the Monaco Yacht show by Dutch marine architects Sinot with the hope of drawing a ‘discerning, forward looking owner’.
At 367ft long, it does not measure up to those owned by other billionaires such as Roman Abramovich, but enjoys a unique status as the world’s only ‘clean’ superyacht.
Its two 28-tonne vacuum- sealed tanks, which are hidden below decks, are cooled before being filled with liquid hydrogen. Fuel cells on board will combine the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity and power the vessel, which is being built in a Dutch shipyard for delivery in 2024.
Aqua will reach speeds of 17 knots, or 20mph, and travel 3,750 miles on full tanks. However, it is understood that diesel back-up tanks will be installed due to the scarcity of hydrogen fuelling stations.
Mr Gates is a keen advocate of clean energy. The 63-year- old is already an investor in Heliogen, a California start-up developing a clean source of hydrogen gas to replace fossil fuels.