Decarbonizing Railroads: A Technological and Political Debate

Friday - April 19 2024, 19:22 UTC - 7 months ago

In order to reach emissions reduction goals, rail transportation must find new energy sources. California has implemented regulations requiring all new passenger and freight locomotives to be zero-emissions. There is ongoing debate about the best technology to decarbonize railroads, with hydrogen currently emerging as the top choice. However, installing overhead wire as an alternative would require consent from major freight carriers and come with significant costs.

In the quest to decarbonize the transportation sector—the largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States—rubber-tired electric vehicles tend to dominate the conversation. But to reach the Biden administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, other forms of transportation, including those on steel wheels, will need to find new energy sources too.

The best way to decarbonize railroads is the subject of growing debate among regulators, industry, and activists. Things are coming to a head in California, which recently enacted rules requiring all new passenger locomotives operating in the state to be zero-emissions by 2030 and all new freight locomotives to meet that threshold by 2035. Federal regulators could be close behind.

The debate is partly technological, revolving around whether hydrogen fuel cells, batteries, or overhead electric wires offer the best performance for different railroad situations. But it’s also political: a question of the extent to which decarbonization can, or should, usher in a broader transformation of rail transportation. For decades, the government has largely deferred to the will of the big freight rail conglomerates. Decarbonization could shift that power dynamic—or further entrench it.

So far, hydrogen has been the big technological winner in California. Over the past year, the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, has ordered 10 hydrogen FLIRT trains at a cost of $207 million. After the Arrow service, the next rail line to receive hydrogen trains is scheduled to be the Valley Rail service in the Central Valley. That line will connect Sacramento to California High-Speed Rail, the under-construction system that will eventually link Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In its analysis of different zero-­emissions rail technologies, Caltrans found that hydrogen trains, powered by onboard fuel cells that convert hydrogen into electricity, had better range and shorter refueling times than battery-electric trains, which function much like electric cars. Hydrogen was also a cheaper power source than overhead wire (or simply "electrification," in industry parlance), which would cost an estimated $6.8 billion to install on the state’s three main intercity routes. (California High-Speed Rail and its shared track on the Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter service will both be powered by overhead wire, since electrification is necessary to reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour.) .

Further complicating the electrification option, installing overhead wire on the rest of California’s passenger network would require the consent of BNSF and Union Pacific, the two major freight rail carriers that own most of the state’s tracks. The companies have long opposed the installation of wire above their tracks, which they say could interfere with double-stacked freight trains.

Electrifying all 144,000 miles of the nation’s freight rail tracks would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a report by the Association of American Railroads (AAR), an industry trade group, and even electrifying smaller sections of track would result in ongoing disruptions to train traffic. Despite the potential benefits of overhead wire, it remains a contentious issue in the railroad industry and among government regulators.

Overall, the debate about how to decarbonize railroads is complex and multifaceted. It involves considerations of cost, technology, and politics, and will likely continue as more regulations and policies are put into place to reach emission reduction goals. With the Biden administration's focus on achieving net-zero emissions, the future of rail transportation and its energy sources is sure to be a top priority in the coming years.