Analysis of the variables that affect the operation of the solar catamaran in the Galapagos Islands

Abstract

The Galapagos Islands ecosystem has a great biodiversity and endemism, which is greatly affected by different human activities present in the islands. Maritime passenger transport on the Itabaca Canal is based on vessels with combustion engines, consuming an annual average of 4200 gallons of fuel that produce about 38 tons of CO2 per year. In this sense, the operation of the INER 1 solar-powered electric catamaran is a sustainable and renewable model for maritime passenger transport within the Galapagos Islands. This transport system is influenced by different variables of the social, environmental - seasonal and energy type that need to be evaluated to analyze which of them is the one that most influences its operation and why its importance. To this end, it has been proposed to use the attribute selection method to handle the data in an adequate manner and to predict efficiently the effects of each of them on the vessel. Based on the aforementioned it is proposed to carry out a bibliographic review on the variables that most influence or in the operation of the solar catamaran “INER 1” in the Galapagos Islands.