Holland Shipyards Group, Sequana Développement, and Roboat have announced that their 3D-printed, autonomous electric passenger ferry will be in operation on the river Seine by the summer of 2024 in time for the Paris 2024 …
Continue readingCategory: Sustainability
Electric railways need to prepare for warming climate, warn experts (RailBusiness)
Britain’s electric railways need to adapt to climate warming, with travellers and freight facing increasing delays and disruption if they do not, a new report warns. In a letter to the Rail Minister, Huw Merriman …
Continue readingBattery powered UK inter-city train under development (RailwayGazette)
Hitachi Rail is working with Turntide Technologies to design and manufacture traction battery systems for trial installation on an inter-city trainset. Turntide said installing traction batteries to make a Hitachi electro-diesel trainset into a tri-mode …
Continue readingReality & implications of national transport emission reduction policies (CREDS)
In 2021 the United Nations Secretary-General issued a ‘Code Red’ warning for humanity, with the risks of exceeding 1.5 degrees of warming perilously close. That year saw the publication of the Department for Transport’s Decarbonisation …
Continue readingSingapore to install solar panels on 50 more buses after successful trial (StraitsTimes)
Public bus operator Go-Ahead Singapore will install ultra-thin solar panels on the roofs of 50 more buses after a proof-of-concept trial in 2021 showed positive results. By end-April, a total of 52 diesel-powered buses will be fitted …
Continue readingColas Rail UK Embraces Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (RailTech)
In a significant step towards a greener rail industry, Colas Rail UK has recently conducted trials using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as an alternative to diesel fuel in their locomotives. This move aims to significantly …
Continue readingFirst Volvo electric double decker buses enter service in Cambridge (BusNews)
Volvo has delivered 30 new Volvo BZL Electric double-decker buses to Stagecoach East in Cambridge, UK. These vehicles are the first of their kind to be delivered in the UK and will operate across multiple …
Continue readingElectric buses outsell diesels in Europe for first time (ICCT)
For well over one hundred years, the internal combustion engine has reigned supreme over our roads. For one small but significant transport sector, the humble city bus, its reign has neared its end. The most …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 26 May 2023
• England rail passengers could lose WiFi access in DfT cost cuts (Guardian) • How train WiFi works & why it’s under threat in England (Guardian) • Effect of UK sustainable mobility policies on urban …
Continue readingWhy not cover ugly parking lots with solar panels? (Wired)
In France, a plan to cover swaths of asphalt with photovoltaics will bring renewable energy even closer to urban areas where it’s needed. A BACKLASH AGAINST industrial-size solar farms is brewing. At least 75 big solar …
Continue readingZero & low emission locomotive: Global roundup (RailwayAge)
By 2050, in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement, zero-emission locomotives may have completely replaced conventional diesel-powered equipment on the railways of the world. Current development of zero-emission switcher locomotives, combined with practical operating experience, increases …
Continue readingDfT undersells modal shift: Air passenger CO2 impact 60 times more than rail (RailEngineer)
In 2021, the Department for Transport (DfT) published transport and environmental statistics for various journeys which included Glasgow to London. However, the true carbon impact of these journeys, considering actual energy consumption, shows the DfT …
Continue readingThis is the lightest paint in the world (Wired)
An energy-saving coating needs no pigments, and it keeps the surface beneath it 30 degrees cooler. Debashis Chanda had trouble finding a physicist who could paint. The researchers in his nanoscience lab at the University …
Continue readingGlobal corps ask EU to mandate all new company cars be electric after 2030 (TransportEnv)
The European Commission should consider electrification targets for corporate cars as part of the Greening Corporate Fleets initiative, a coalition of 30 global businesses and organisations say. Leading companies, including Uber, Ikea, Coca Cola and …
Continue readingFriday Reads – 17 February 2023
• Fast charge battery trial to resume after GWR agrees to purchase Vivarail assets (RailUK) • Wales road building projects stopped after failing climate review (Guardian) • Ottawa’s LRT didn’t go wrong, it started wrong …
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