Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Have Become Top Carbon Polluters

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602458/planes-trains-and-automobiles-have-become-top-carbon-polluters/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Have Become Top Carbon Polluters[/font]

[font size=4]For the first time in decades, more carbon emissions will come from transportation than from coal- and gas-fired power plants.[/font]

by Mike Orcutt | September 25, 2016

[font size=3]Transportation is likely to surpass the electricity sector in 2016 as the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, according to a new analysis of government data.

In 2008, the global financial crisis caused widespread declines in energy use. In the U.S., that coincided with the early stages of a large-scale shift away from coal toward cleaner-burning natural gas as a way to generate electricity. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions from the electricity sector have continued to decline from their 2007 peak, even as the economy has resumed growing.



The trend line for the transportation sector is less encouraging. Transportation emissions have begun rising as the economy rebounds. John DeCicco at the University of Michigan Energy Institute, who wrote the study, attributes the rebound we’ve seen during the past four years to straightforward causes: economic recovery and more affordable fuel prices. Vehicle sales numbers have been rising for several years, in particular for trucks and SUVs, and people are traveling more miles.

The trends have significant implications for the country’s energy policy. President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan will help ensure that emissions from generating electricity continue to fall in the coming years, and there are plenty of alternatives to coal-fired power plants. As for transportation, gasoline and diesel figure to keep dominating the market for decades because electric cars, the alternative, have been slow to take off. Federal laws designed to increase fuel efficiency and reduce tailpipe emissions will only serve to offset increasing travel demand, DeCicco says.

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[nationalize the fed]

1. Germany unveils world’s first zero-emissions hydrogen-powered passenger train

French company Alstom unveiled the first-ever passenger train powered completely by hydrogen at this week’s Berlin InnoTrans trade show. The hydrogen train or “hydrail” will be put into service on Germany’s Buxtehude-Bremervörde-Bremerhaven-Cuxhaven line in Lower Saxony by December 2017. After two years in development, the “Coradia iLint” train offers a zero-emissions alternative to Germany’s existing fleet of diesel trains, thanks to a roof-mounted tank of hydrogen fuel.

The hydrail is an electric train operating with a hydrogen fuel tank on its roof that powers a fuel cell to generate electricity. This train, and others like it to come in the future, are part of a big push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation. The Coradia iLint will be the first of its kind to carry passengers along the railway, as most other innovations in hydrail technology have been focused on cargo transport.



“Alstom is proud to launch a breakthrough innovation in the field of clean transportation which will complete its Coradia range of regional trains,” said Alstom chairman and CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, in a statement. “It shows our ability to work in close collaboration with our customers and develop a train in only two years.” snip
http://inhabitat.com/germany-unveils-the-worlds-first-zero-emissions-hydrogen-powered-passenger-train/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1127105207

Es ist kein Hirnchirurg nehmen, dies zu verstehen

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. This could be run dual-mode

much as some trains in the US are diesel/electric dual mode (switching between on-board power, and grid power when available.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electro-diesel_locomotive

[Vogon_Glory]

2. A low-carbon railroad technology has been available for decades

Electrification. Electrification is a proven, mature technology that has been implemented in much of the rest of the world since the 1920's. If government and/or private corporations could be persuaded to string the overhead wires, there'd be a lot less carbon emissions.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. We had (and still have) electric locomotives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_electrification_in_the_United_States

…

Electrification in the US reached its maximum of 3,100 miles (5,000 km) in the late 1930s.

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[Vogon_Glory]

4. And the mileage of North America's electrified rail network has declined since then

And the miles of North America's railroad network under electrified wire has declined since 1960. The Milwaukee Road's electrified divisions--gone by 1973. Conrail's electrified freight lines--gone by 1980 (Conrail has since been split up between Norfolk Southern and CSX). The Virginian Railway's freight electrification--gone by 1961. The former Nacionales de Mexico's former FC Mexicano electrification--gone by 1970.

There was some effort by the Carter administration to electrify certain electric freight lines, but the Republicans (and many Democrats) in Congress tanked the effort.

I didn't count the "captive" electrified lines like the Black Mesa and Lake Powell, the Deseret Western, and the lines formerly operated by Texas Utilities in the total, since their purpose was to haul coal to a central power plant and weren't common carriers.

You want to see examples of the electric freight locomotives used by the former Pennsylvania Railroad (later Penn Central, then Conrail) or the former Virginian Railway (Later Norfolk Western)--look in a museum. The wires came down or the freight traffic re-routed and the electrics were replaced by diesels.