Climate Change is being driven primarily by one thing: greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Transportation accounts for roughly a third of emissions. (It varies from locale to locale, country to country.) That’s why this story is good news: UK’s first hydrogen-powered train makes mainline debut.
...Today’s trials of HydroFLEX, which have been supported with a £750,000 grant from the Department for Transport, follow almost two years’ development work and more than £1 million of investment by both Porterbrook and the University of Birmingham. Unlike diesel trains, hydrogen-powered trains do not emit harmful gases, instead using hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, water and heat.
...The Transport Secretary also announced the ambition for Tees Valley to become a Hydrogen Transport Hub. Bringing together representatives from academia, industry and government to drive forward the UK’s plans to embrace the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel could create hundreds of jobs while seeing the region become a global leader in the green hydrogen sector.
This is not the only hydrogen-powered passenger rail project. Alstom has been developing the Coradia iLint train sets, which are now starting to enter service.
The Coradia iLint is the first passenger train in the world to run on a hydrogen fuel cell, which generates electrical energy for propulsion. This completely emission-free train is quiet and emits only steam and water. The Coradia iLint is characterized by numerous innovations: clean energy conversion, flexible energy storage in batteries and intelligent management of motive power and available energy. Designed specifically for use on non-electrified lines, it enables clean, sustainable train operation while maintaining high levels of performance.
Alstom has already sold 41 of these hydrogen-powered trains in Germany. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Italy are also interested in the technology. Alstom is the leader in zero-emission mobility and the only manufacturer able to offer its customers the full range of emission-free drives from electric through to battery and hydrogen fuel cells.
Where the HydroFLEX differs is that it is being developed to retrofit existing train sets, and to be able to operate from overhead catenary wire where that is available.
Work on the next stage of HydroFLEX is already well advanced with the University of Birmingham developing a hydrogen and battery power module that can be fitted underneath the production version of the train, which will create increased capacity for passengers in the train’s saloon area.
The HydroFLEX train on test today is a demonstrator unit, the production version will be configured for operation using both overhead-electric-wires and hydrogen for non-electrified routes. This will make HydroFLEX particularly attractive to regions and routes where there is only partial electrification of the network.
It can leverage existing electrification while extending zero emission service to lines where wire has yet to be installed, replacing diesels. The original initiative and the details are spelled out here.
The project is expected to decarbonise the British railway network, which currently accommodates diesel and electric trains, by replacing diesel-only trains with HydroFLEX until 2040. The project also supports the UK Government’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 80% before 2050.
The idea of building the HydroFLEX hydrogen-powered train was conceptualised during the Rail Live event held in June 2018. The train was demonstrated during the Rail Live trade event held at the Quinton Rail Technology Centre in the UK in June 2019.
As far as emissions are concerned, electrifying rail lines is the way to go. The power can come from any source. Even with fossil fuels supplying the power, there are advantages to having the emissions coming from a point source where emission and pollution control efforts can be concentrated.
Solutionary Rail proposes powering those rail corridors with power from wind and solar. (It would also use those corridors as the backbone of a national power grid to share that clean power everywhere — but that’s another story.)
Even without electrifying rail corridors with clean power, America could still see major cuts in emissions with current diesel-powered trains by doing one thing: shifting as much freight traffic from road to rail as possible, the “Moonshot Modeshift.” It’s simple physics. It takes far less energy to move tonnage with steel wheels rolling on steel rails versus rubber tires on pavement.
The biggest obstacle to electrifying rail lines is the up front cost of building the added infrastructure — overhead wire or third rail. Historically, a rail corridor needed either a certain amount of traffic to justify it, or other reasons such as air quality concerns.
Although diesels don’t put out anywhere near the emissions of a coal-burning steam engine, diesel particulates are a health issue all by themselves. (Air quality standards are driving the trucking industry to turn to electric and hydrogen-powered trucks.) Tunnels, commuter rail in cities, subways — these are all places where electricity is the standard. It’s also the standard for High Speed Rail.
Climate change has really upped the stakes by making greenhouse gas emissions a critical concern. The train sets seen in this diary are one answer to getting to zero carbon. We have answers we can use now — all we need is the political will to get started.
UPDATE: There have been questions in comments about how green the source of the hydrogen is that will be powering those trains. This news from Siemens shows that matter is also being addressed.
Siemens Smart Infrastructure and WUN H2 GmbH signed a contract to build one of the largest hydrogen production plants in Germany. It will be built in Wunsiedel in the north of Bavaria. With a power intake of six megawatts in the initial development phase, the plant will run solely on renewable energy and will be CO2-free.
The electrolysis plant from Siemens Energy will have the capacity to produce over 900 tons of hydrogen per year in this first phase. When fully expanded, it will be able to supply up to 2,000 tons. Groundbreaking is scheduled for the end of this year and commissioning at the end of 2021.
Germany has pledged to be greenhouse gas-neutral by 2050. To this end, all sectors that use energy, such as transportation and industry, must press ahead with decarbonization.