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Reducing dependence on fossil fuels to limit carbon emissions and help the journey to net zero is a common cause across the emergency services and it is no different for the many independent lifeboat organisations operating along the UK’s coastline. Hope Cove Life Boat is one of those organisations and our crews in this beautiful part of Devon are looking long and hard at how we can move to a greener world when we need to replace our boat and equipment to continue their lifesaving work long into the future.
When the first Hope Cove Life Boat crew took to the water to rescue people in Bigbury Bay in 1878 they made very little impression on the local environment. The crew, made up mainly of local fishermen arrived on foot, dragged their lifeboat to the water’s edge and powered it by pulling on oars. It’s safe to say that their carbon footprint was limited.
But modern-day lifesaving operations are very different to those in the 1800s, and for good reason too.
With the fishing trade long gone, today a village like Hope Cove can no longer support the livelihoods of a lifeboat crew. So rather than run to a shout, our crew find themselves more often than not having to drive from wherever they live or work when their pagers sound.
Our life boat, a 6.5m rib, is powered by outboard engines that, unlike human powered oars, don’t tire after fighting the waves. Not only do those engines drive the boat through storm force swells, they also provide the electrical power to run modern day communications and navigation equipment that help keep our crew safe.
All that weight means our crew can no longer haul the boat themselves from the boathouse to the water’s edge. Instead it takes diesel power, in the form of a tractor, to get it to the waterline.
Together that means our impact on the environment is far greater than that of our predecessors. Those changes in the last 150 years keep our crews safer, and mean they are better able to save more lives, but it also begs the question: can you save the planet whilst saving lives?
Our current lifeboat will likely be replaced in the next 3-5 years. Our launch vehicle is likely to come to the end of its working life shortly after, and it is only right that we consider the environment impact of their replacements. In looking to the future of our operations, any equipment we use has to meet several basic requirements.
Seaworthiness
In boat terms, seaworthiness means speed, range, manoeuvrability and stability. While the current wave of electric boat engines might have begun with small (<10hp) outboards there is now more choice and much higher output available, and it is conceivable that electric power could meet our need for speed.
When our crew launch on a search mission they have no idea if they’ll be at sea for minutes, or hours so long range is also essential to give us the time we need on scene. The trend for increasing battery capacity will help us here too. But to cope with our challenging operational needs we need a boat that is manoeuvrable and stable in all conditions. Our current petrol powered boat suffers with the weight of equipment that we have to carry. For electric power to be a viable option that performance and range cannot come at the expense of more weight.
Availability
For us, availability means range and turn around time. Often in the busy summer season the lifeboat can return from one shout, and then be called again minutes later. Our current boat takes just five minutes to refuel. Electrical power undoubtedly can offer environmental advantages, but the charging technology available today just doesn’t support that sort of rapid turn around.
Reliability
Will the solution work, repeatedly, in testing salt and spray conditions? Is there redundancy in the event of a failure? And if it fails, can we fix it quickly? Our lifeboat is twin engined so even if we lose an engine our crew can still make it home. Experience also tells us that it’s rare to have such an issue, whereas our electrical systems are much more prone to malfunctions and failures despite built in redundancy.
While our lifeboat is relatively highly specified, our launch vehicle is based on a converted six tonne dumper truck. Its mechanical simplicity is perhaps its greatest asset. In the event of a mechanical failure (a not infrequent occurrence when you’re immersing a machine designed for the land into the sea) our crew are able to effect repairs with readily available parts.
Launch vehicles like ours are an ideal candidate for electrification. Our ‘dumper’ only travels short distances, and either pure electrical or an electrical/ hydraulic drive combination is probably easier to adapt for our use than our current set-up, but only if the solution is one that can be serviced and maintained easily. Ultimately for our crew to put to sea, they need to have absolute trust in their equipment.
Cost
Can we afford it? We’re an independent lifeboat organisation, one of over 60 in the UK that are not part of the RNLI, Our charity is funded entirely by the generosity of our community, and without the resources of a large organisation. We enjoy great support and have followers from all around the world. Our independence gives us a high degree of freedom, but it means we don’t have the resources to invest in research or development of new technologies.
The problems we face aren’t unique to Hope Cove Life Boat. Every industry is having to find new ways of reducing its impact on the environment. We believe the answer comes from operators like us collaborating with industry to develop the green solutions for tomorrow.
Our crew put equipment to the test every time they train or respond to a shout. Every time we come ashore we debrief on what we’ve done, what we’ve learned, what worked and what needs to be improved. And we believe that combination of testing conditions and a focus on constantly improving makes us the perfect development partner to prove the value and suitability of new, greener marine technologies.
In the same way that a rescue at sea is rarely the result of just one individual, we can’t solve the challenges of saving lives and the planet on our own. If you’d like to find out more about what we do, or talk to us about how we can save lives and the planet all at the same time then please get in touch.
Read our latest report about how the emergency services are preparing themselves for an electric future – Blue lights, green fleets available now.
