When I hear that Santa Fe start blowin’
I wonder where it’s been and where it’s goin’. I tell you, boy, every time The feelin’ sure is fine. Just move me on down the line, Just move me on down the line. — ZZ Top, 197 Rail transportation began sometime in the 1500s. It was used primarily for mining. Long ropes were used to pull these carts from one position to another, while others were pulled by horse. Rails were made of wood then. When the steam engine came along around in the early 1800s everything changed. George Stephenson is given credit for the first railroad steam-driven engine. For its day a steam engine was pretty amazing. It hauled eight cars of 30 tons of coal uphill at 4 miles per hour. Amazing too when you consider that every one of those engines had to be fabricated on the spot. The metal, was not the steel of today, had to be forged to specs and bolted together. There were no welders then, no place to buy bolts, every single item had to be hand crafted. This was the real start of the industrial revolution. Rail was always used to move heavy loads. Today we can move large loads fairly quickly, however; most of that movement is done with tractor-trailers. This is because tractor-trailers have greater point-to-point delivery access while rail does not. Delivery by rail is depot to depot. So what does this have to do with alternate energy? It is all about the energy used to do work. Trains are the most efficient for moving objects from point A to Point B. They get the most mile/per gallon/per pound. To take the efficiency of train transportation to a whole new level, what if solar panels are placed parallel to the tracks the trains run on? Can you image the possibility of transportation costing almost nothing to operate, at least fuel-wise? The solution is to install solar panels and wind turbines where possible, parallel to the rails. Then connect this to a grid system in-line overhead to accommodate the train traffic and to supply power to the resident grid system. This is the concept promoted by Backbone Consortium and its founder Bill Moyer, author of “Solutionary Rail.” America’s rail system compared to the rest of the world is lagging far behind. This is because our massive highway infrastructure has taken precedence. Hopefully there will be a resurgence with this new system. TEB Bus on rails Next is intercity transportation. How can trains fit into an already crowded environment? One solution still in the making is the TEB Bus. TEB stands for Transit Elevated Bus. It’s a bus that will ride on rails in an accommodating intercity overhead infrastructure. Waiting passengers stand on an overhead deck. The proposed bus stops at these points, does not stop or hinder surrounding traffic and the waiting passengers board the TEB in comfort and safety. In some respects, the TEB resembles the lower body of a hyrofoil. It has alternate names such as straddle bus or tunnel bus. The savings in energy use would be enormous. Anyone who has driven in a big city knows what it is like to wait in traffic. Studies have shown that the average speed through a major city is about 12 mph. At this speed the average gas efficiency drops by 30%. Optimal speed for optimal gas mileage in a gas-only vehicle is at about 35 mph. TEB can service hundreds of passengers at a time. It would also unclog the traffic of buses. However there has been quite a bit of controversy between feasibility and investor fraud and the TEB project appears to be in limbo. Some say this project is 20 years off. The Hyperloop Elon Musk is an ubiquitous character on the transportation and energy stage. He has his hands, thank goodness, in all things that move. Trains included! You may have all heard of the hyperloop. So how does it achieve speeds near that of sound? Well, Mr. Musk is not saying. I thought it would be the gravity or vacuum system; however, Mr. Musk would only say it is a cross between the Concord and an air hockey table. To achieve this end, tunnels are drilled. His new company, the “Boring Company,” is drilling tunnels for this purpose. I think the underground has a big future as far as energy is concerned. Currently, a hyperloop is proposed for between New York and Baltimore, which, when built, is proposed to take 29 minutes to travel. This translates to about one mile in six seconds. MagLev Magnetic levitation trains — or MagLev — is the last train I will cover. While this technology has been around for a while the supporting infrastructure and maintenance is extremely expensive. The Shanghai Maglev cost $60 million per mile to build. Some projects have achieved speeds of over 300 mph. However, the very essence of what makes this an amazing technology is the same property that makes it vulnerable. The train rides on a rail that is cushioned by an “air” of magnetic repulsion between that rail and the body of that rail. Electricity in the coils in the rails is continually pulsed the whole way. However, only maglev trains can use this rail; in other words it needs its own infrastructure. This is difficult to consider as an overall benefit when its use is limited. The future of trains is yet to be fulfilled. The concepts are in place but the reality is a few years away. It will be an enormous task to have these concepts fit the required infrastructure. So let’s hope that we are up for the challenge,or will the future have other plan
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Keep on rollin’
Keep on rollin’ Oh, now roll with the changes — REO Speedwagon, 1978 Transportation is by far the greatest single consumer of energy and will undergo some amazing transformations in the coming decades. My next series of columns will focus on it. Transportation is the backbone of our economy. Vehicular transportation in the United States consumes 60 percent of the oil we use, and its ravenous energy appetite must constantly be fed or it will result in a train wreck that would put Amtrak to shame. The questions that need to be answered are these: Can we put transportation on a diet without affecting its health? If so, what changes in technology will be made to conserve and wisely use the energy? How is mankind going to handle the goods of the future? Just how are we going to efficiently and effectively transport goods to a world that will reach 9 billion in population in 30 years? How indeed will this happen in a world of continually diminishing resources with ever-increasing expectation of products? The alternate energy here will be achieved more as a matter of perspective than innovative vehicles. So what is the future going to be like? “The best way to predict the future is to invent it,” according to Andy Grove, former CEO of Intel. Elon Musk recently announced that the first trip to Mars by his company will begin in 2019. Cars that drive themselves are already here. Solar-powered cars, boats and planes for commercial use are on the horizon. Ocean-going vessels will take on new shapes to accommodate a greater aerodynamic effect while employing sails. Trains can easily be run on solar power given an improved network of solar panels along the tracks. High-speed rail will be in demand. Highways and byways will forever change when built with sensors and lighting. Tunnels will bypass highways. Conveyor systems will move goods in big cities. You can walk to your local 3D Printer Depot to make your new replacement taillight on the same day you broke it while backing up in a parking lot. Modality is the key to the future of energy efficient transportation. Modality: The “alternate energy” in transportation may be more realized in transportation’s planning and choices of how to get what we need from point A to point B than the actual physical means of conveyance. The use of data will contribute immensely to that end. Data interpretation will lead to creating efficient scheduling by incorporating weather reports and availability of shipping terminals. There are vast arrays of modalities. What about pipelines? I am a believer in pipelines even the big ones when you consider the alternatives. Natural gas and oil are much more economically transported by pipeline than by any other means. I know they leak and that inspections aren’t always performed unless an economic reason motivates repairs. The alternative is to ship by rail, boat or truck, which is more expensive, has greater security risks and much greater environmental risks. Pipelines are easily monitored against all these hazards in addition to being environmentally efficient. What about a bicycles-only city? If you have been in New York City recently you could see where this is highly effective. Studies have shown that the average speed of a vehicle in the center of a major city is about 10-12 mph; picture midtown Manhattan. That is the average speed of a leisure bike ride. This has the added health benefit of exercise. Yes, there are new bikes of all kinds to handle weather and cargo. Amsterdam is an example of a bike-only city. What about communications? No need to leave the office to go overseas. Conferencing is the way to go. People will continue to travel by air. Jet transportation can’t keep up with the demand. I will present some things that are going on in this arena in future columns. Our skies are crowded now, just wait 10 years from now! The Infrastructure: I had the fortune of visiting MIT Urban Transportation of Tomorrow. One of the deepest threads woven into the fabric of transportation is infrastructure. Here a considerable amount of effort was put into working hand-in-glove with the driven mechanism themselves to the infrastructure that supports them. The research is still on going today. I was impressed with the detailed consideration that was given to this subject. Planning is the first step in the future of energy efficient transportation. If you look back, the automobile was invented before paved roads were even considered. The United States, in its infancy, had lots of unobstructed land. We could lay rails and open roads anywhere we wanted, however, very often without permission. Europe, on the other hand, was hindered by its own infrastructure; cities had already been built and roads already crafted to handle the vehicles of the time. Canals were built to accommodate the boats of the time. After all, infrastructure had its start some 2,000 years ago with the roads built by the Romans. This begs the question, What will the roads of the future be like? I hope that there are solar panels on every meridian of our highways for starters. I want to close with these statistics: • The canoe was invented over 10,000 years ago; • The first sail about 6,000 years ago; • The wheel (for transportation) 4,000 years ago; • Composite roads over 2,000 years ago; • The compass around the year 1100; • 1769, the first motor driven vehicle; • 1783, the first hot air balloon; • 1827, the first commercial railroad; • 1830s, the first electric car; • 1850s, the first glider flight; • 1859, the first internal combustion engine; • 1886, the first diesel driven car; • 1903, the first engine driven flight; • 1936, the first jet engine; • 1957, the first in space. These are some of our roots in transportation. Through all the advancements, the wheel will continue to be in fashion and the piston engine is still king of the internal combustion engines. This gives us a snapshot of how far we have come ... and a pause for the future. |
AuthorJames Bobreski is a process control engineer who has been in the field of electric power production for 43 years. His “Alternate Energy” column runs monthly. Archives
June 2020
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