California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free
As if the announcement of a high-speed rail line that will go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 hours and 40 minutes isn’t exciting enough, Navigant Consulting now claims that the bullet train can run with zero greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the energy consulting firm, the train’s expected usage of 3,350 GWh each year can easily be generated using renewable energy resources in California. The rail line’s energy consumption will be about one percent of the state’s total energy usage—not bad considering its speed, convenience, and potential for widespread use.
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The 800-mile bullet train system is being built by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. By 2030, the 220 MPH high-speed trains will carry up to 100 million passengers per year. The ultimate fate of the project will be decided this November, when the state’s $9.95 billion bond measure for the train is voted upon.
It’s hard to comprehend the reduction in carbon emissions that will occur once the train is running—just think about the effect of even one quarter of the people who would normally drive or fly across the state opting for high-speed rail. And why wouldn’t they want to take a train that drastically cuts travel time and eliminates the hassles of sitting in traffic and trekking through airport security? I know I’ll be first in line.
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This is fantastic. Even if we weren’t building renewable power all over California, it would still be a huge reduction in emissions to get on the grid instead of burning jet fuel.
It’s a lot easier to fix grid generation - something we have solutions for today - than to try to dream up solutions for cars and aircraft.
That is truly amazing. How do they do it. Some pretty smart people no doubt.
Jiff
http://www.privacy.cz.tc
2030? Pfft!
By the time this thing is done we’ll have invented teleportation, or flying cars!! Must public projects in this country always take 20 years to complete?
Bullet trains are nice but I fly San Diego / San Jose twice a week and it’s a 3 hour trip door-to-door for me (and if I buy tickets in advance it can be as low as $60).
Not that it matters as apparently by the time we get this I’ll be happily retired.
I’m with skeptic, 2030 is ridiculously late. Most of the other developed countries already have these bullet trains working as of now. Japan, Taiwan, some European states, all have at least one. China I know has several working, including the fastest in the world for peak speed (somewhere to the tune of 230mph I believe)
All the emissions perks are nice, but we really need to get this underway asap.
You guys should have thought of that before voting for Bush.
I always get flamed for asking this, but it is a legitimate question that I wish someone would put some thought into answering. Woudn’t trains be just as big of a security risk as planes? If you bring down a plane at more than a hundred feet you kill everyone on board. If you derail a train at 220 mph you kill everyone on board. Even if the survival rate is slightly better than 0% trains tend to carry more people (one reason they’re more efficient) and so you may end up killing more people anyway. I just don’t see our oh so benevolent government letting us waltz onto a high-speed train with nothing more than a smile and a “Have a nice trip!”
Even worse, with planes you need only secure the take-off and landing points and the vehicle itself. With a train you need to secure all that and the track too. Wouldn’t it be very very hard and expensive to secure more than 400 miles worth of track?
The best thing is that it’s French - the TGV to be precise. I could also point out that it will only run on special track - which will have to be laid - and uses overhead catenary for the power supply - which will also have to be set up. Now you know why it will take that long.
Joel,
The high speed train is not at all like an airplane when it comes to security. It will be on a dedicated track, so cannot travel freely like an airliner to threaten any destination. It is also an electric train, with the electricity controlled by a remote location, not the train. So in the extremely unlikely event that someone tries to take over the train, there will be protocols in place where you just cut the power to the track. The train coasts to a stop. Hundreds of angry passengers hold the terrorists for authorities.
Wow, that thing could really kill some people, can you imagine how many deaths we would have had if that train was involved?