Friday Reads – 23 April 2021

1. I’ve read RIA Why Rail Electrification? Report 2021, Page 32, hydrogen gas 350 bar and batteries needs 12x and 21x more space to store the same amount of energy as diesel tanks.

   But French manufacturer Alstom UK Decarbonisation The UK’S New Green Age Report 2021, Page 21, hydrogen (gas 350 bar) 8x and batteries 16x more volume than diesel tanks.

   RIA Report Page 50 says that ammonia has over 4x the energy density of hydrogen gas at 350 bar but “However, on trains, it presents a significant health hazard”. But a Wikipedia article about ammonia mentions that it was used to power trams in New Orleans, USA 1870s-80s and Belgium buses in WW2, but there is nothing about ammonia being risky and poisoning drivers and passengers.

   I agree with the RIA that electrification is the best solution for 125 mph passenger trains and heavy freight trains, but a rolling programme will take nearly 30 years with last freight lines electrified in 2050. Ammonia energy density is lower than diesel, so I wonder if removing the engine from a diesel-electric locomotive will free up enough extra space for large enough ammonia fuel tanks to be installed to power 125 mph and freight trains for at least short distance routes as a transitional fuel until electrification is completed and/or as a permanent solution. Perhaps permanent for medium tph (trains per hour) and temporary for high tph lines, ammonia bi-modal trains will also only need part electrification which is cheaper and faster to install.

2. The canal-top solar panel idea is baffling, particularly when it talks about building new ones. Why not just build them narrower and put solar panels next to the canal if the land is available anyway? I’m also bemused by needing an access road alongside for maintenance when there’s a perfectly good canal to use!

3. @Andrew S

   The key point is the canal-top solar panels greatly reduce evaporation, which means more water is delivered to cities and fields. So the panels are a win-win.

   To give an idea of the level of evaporation on canals and rivers, I’ve read that the Colorado River, which supplies southern California with much of its drinking water, losses two thirds of the water it transports to evaporation.

4. Runcorn Busway
   I think they’ve missed one other thing, that did bus services no good at all – deregulation.
   It certainly can’t have helped, especially given the “change of ownership” mentioned in the text?

5. Is it just me, or is a mere doubling ( from a very low starting point ) of traffic on Amtrak a low bar to clear?
   I’m assuming that the US freight-railroads are going to be, um “persuaded” to give passenger trains priority ….

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