I am a Board Member of the Marin Rowing Association in Marin
County https://www.marinrowing.org/) where we have eight (8) gas
powered outboard engines, 25hp to 50hp, to propel our coaching
launches. We are the first organization in California to purchase
and receive a 100% electric alternative for our first launch. This
electric alternative to our 25hp gas engine has superior
performance and is nonpolluting. In fact, we charge it with solar.
Soon, we will we be replacing the other 7 launches with an electric
alternative.
Similar to 2012 when electric vehicles began to replace
gas cars, there will be tens of thousands (or more) recreational
and non-recreational boat owners in California who will want to
transition to 100% electric outboard motors now that the technology
exists and is commercially available. An example of it can be seen
at www.purewatercraft.com.
CARB has done a wonderful job supporting the
electrification of large marine vehicles transitioning from gas or
diesel to hybrid or full electric. Up until now, there was no
viable electric equivalent to replace outboard marine engines 25hp
or greater for recreational and non-recreational vessels.
From CARB’s site
(https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/topics/oceangoing-vessels-harbor-craft):
“From massive cargo ships to
smaller harbor craft such as ferries and tug boats, marine vessels
impact California's air quality. Over the past 10 years, California
has enacted regulations to limit the pollution generated from these
vessels, helping improve air quality in port-adjacent communities
as well as further inland.”
Just as CARB saw the value of providing incentives for
these larger marine vessels to transition to electric once the
technology became available, now is the time to expand programs to
include replacing 25hp or greater gas outboard engines with
electric. In fact, replacing each one of these gas outboard engines
to electric has the equivalent impact of taking 125 gas burning
cars off the road per year.
Here are the calculations to show the ecological
benefit:
https://www.purewatercraft.com/2019/08/07/a-thousand-cars-off-the-road/
This is a formal request to expand CARB programs to
include the dock wiring, purchase of electric alternatives
(chargers and motors) and ongoing carbon benefit of replacing 25hp
or greater gas outboard engines with 100% electric alternatives.
Some of the programs to expand may include:
• LCFS program
(https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/low-carbon-fuel-standard)
• The Carl Moyer Program
(https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/guidelines-carl-moyer)
•
Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust for California
(https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/volkswagen-environmental-mitigation-trust-california)
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District
(https://www.baaqmd.gov)
There is also an opportunity to model a program similar to the
Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/en) to
help transition away from these high polluting outboard engines as
it did for EV adoption.
The board of MRA extends a huge thank you to CARB for
continuing to push for cleaner air in California. Your
consideration of this matter, which seems in line with CARB’s
mission, is greatly appreciated.
Please feel free to reach out
to me directly should you have any questions or if you would like
to take a ride on our electrified launch.
Sincerely,
John Younger
Board Member
Marin
Rowing Association
johnkyounger@gmail.com