Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
But in the long run, it doesn't matter how fuel efficient trucks or diesel-electric trains are, if we don't have the fuel.
OTOH, I figured out once that you could run the current US rail system by building just 19 1 GW reactors - and that's just 1-1 replacing the energy from current diesel, without figuring the higher efficiency of electric, and the recapture of braking energy on the downgrades.
I sometimes see trains belching diesel smoke while going over Donner Pass, one struggling uphill westbound from Reno, another eastbound from Sacramento, and wonder why no one can seem to see that two electric trains, timed right, could do it practically for free.
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electrify those
RAILS...fry the little forest creatures (ha,ha).
...have you thought about the HUGE
resistance differences between COPPER or SILVER conductors and STEEL/IRON railroad tracks? Might be good for clearing the railroad tracks during winter snow storms though!
...although, if lightweight SUPER-CAPACITORS can be developed to "hold" the charge, maybe sufficient down-hill regeneration energy could be captured during steep down-hill grades to offset "some/most" of the energy required on the next up-hill grade? Basically, a BIGGER version of the GM e-boost system using CAPACITORS instead of BATTERIES to "hold" the energy between recovery and reuse.