ICF coaches standing near Modinagar Railway Station, India. Image courtesy of Ravi Dwivedi, Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 International license.
Indian Railways continues to electrify its network, a process began precisely 100 years ago. In fact, it is nearly at 100% electrification. “As of 1 January 2025, 64,547 route kilometres (rkm) were electrified, which is 97.06% of the total broad gauge network (66,504 rkm, including Konkan Railway),” Wikipedia writes. Swapnil Nila, Central Public … [continued]
Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg, brought tears to my eyes four years ago, and they were tears of joy. CleanTechnica, NRDC, and so many more fans were pleased that yes, “Finally, Infrastructure Week Isn’t a Joke.” Before I begin listing some of the daily natural highs I discovered while reading … [continued]
ChatGPT generated panoramic image of the Grim Reaper looming over an electric VTOL rotorcraft like the Joby and a bus labeled "H2"
For several years there have been a couple of parallel slow motion failures in the making, the use of hydrogen in transportation and the Jetsons’ fantasy of air taxis zipping over cities. Neither were based in economic, regulatory, or technical reality, preferring instead to have vast sums of governmental and … [continued]
“The Second Greatest Show on Earth!” That’s what showman PT Barnum proclaimed in 1869 as he stepped down off the world’s first mountain-climbing railroad and marveled at the view from Mount Washington’s rocky summit. First put into service in 1869, the Mount Washington Cog Railway has offered decades of tourists … [continued]
ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a map of South Korea littered with failed hydrogen refueling stations, buses and cars
The hydrogen atom is tiny. Getting enough of it in one place requires pressures found at three to seven kilometers under the surface of the ocean. Unsurprisingly, it leaks. As it’s an indirect greenhouse gas and an explosion risk, that’s a big problem. South Korea has been learning exactly what … [continued]
Innovators are leveraging new technologies to install solar panels on sound barriers and other railroad infrastructure. Image courtesy of SoliTek.
Innovators are leveraging new technologies to install solar panels on sound barriers and other railroad infrastructure.
Key Takeaways: Transportation is the highest emissions segment in United States Of rail, water, and road, only freight trucking can readily decarbonize Electric trucks are cost-effective and rapidly advancing The United States has unintentionally made itself into the country with the hardest to decarbonize transportation sector, and it matters. Transportation … [continued]
ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a crank researcher covered in rock dust scribbling in a manifesto
A year ago I published an assessment of a quite remarkably bad, non-peer-reviewed paper by one of the Geological Survey of Finland’s (GTK) associate professors, Simon Michaux. The paper’s quite risible conclusions were that there wasn’t nearly enough metal in the ground to be able to electrify everything with renewables. … [continued]
ChatGPT generated panoramic image of a rusting, pigeon poop covered passenger train labeled "H2" sitting on rusting tracks on a siding
Recently I collaborated with David Cebon, head of the Cambridge Centre for Sustainable Road Freight, and interested parties on a complete list of all of the abandoned hydrogen bus trials globally. There are a couple of dozen of them, and I’m pretty sure there are more transit agencies that have … [continued]
Solar panels between the rails of train tracks is a new idea being tested in Switzerland by start-up Sun-Ways.
