Page 90 - European Energy Innovation - Summer 2015 publication
P. 90
Summer 2015 European Energy Innovation
RAIL TRANSPORT
The hidden power of railways:
energy efficiency
By Libor Lochman, Executive Director, CER (pictured)
Continuous on reducing greenhouse gas compared to 1990. Given that
improvement of the emissions. As clearly identified 85% of total energy consumption
efficiency with which in the Transport White Paper, by the rail sector is used directly to
energy is consumed Europe needs to reduce its import power the trains, this will have an
by end-users is a central theme of dependence for all fossil fuels. important impact on rail’s energy
the EU’s energy policy. In the field efficiency.
of transportation, high energy By using electricity, which can
efficiency is a main environmental draw its power from a range of The figure below compares the
characteristic of the rail system sources, rail is the only major primary energy consumption
and applies both to passenger transport mode not dependent of different transport modes
and freight rail transport. almost entirely on fossil fuels. between Brussels’ and Berlin’s city
Rail only accounts for 2% of total centres. For passenger transport,
Moreover with its strong focus energy consumption in transport energy consumption travelling
on efficiency, EU energy policy is although it carries 17.4% of inland by rail is 1.4 times lower than by
closely related to climate policies freight and 6.2% of passengers road, and almost 1.7 times lower
in Europe. Railways steadily than flying.
improved their energy efficiency
in both passenger and freight Even though rail is already
transport from 1990 to 2011: more energy efficient than
on average, they were able to most other transport modes,
reduce the energy used for every significant efforts have been
passenger-km by 17% and by made at company level in the
23% for every tonne-km. last decade - and continue to be
made - to improve the energy
In the 2010 strategy ‘Moving efficiency of their activities. To
towards Sustainable Mobility: this end European railways are
European Rail Sector Strategy implementing driver advisory
2030 and beyond’, the rail sector systems, eco driving and energy-
agreed that by 2030 the European efficient traffic management. l
railways will have reduced their
specific final energy consumption
from train operations by 30%
Energy management is a key issue for railway systems and will continue Source: www.ecopassenger.org
to be a prominent focus area for the foreseeable future. The MERLIN
project, part of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme
for Research and Technological Development, is investigating and
demonstrating the viability of an integrated management system to
achieve a more sustainable energy usage in European electric mainline
railway systems. MERLIN will provide an integrated optimisation
approach to a cost-effective intelligent management of energy and
resources, and will also deliver the interface protocol and architecture
for energy management systems in the railway domain. A 10%
reduction in energy consumption is expected to be achieved where
the results of the project are implemented.
More information about MERLIN: http://www.merlin-rail.eu
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
RAIL TRANSPORT
The hidden power of railways:
energy efficiency
By Libor Lochman, Executive Director, CER (pictured)
Continuous on reducing greenhouse gas compared to 1990. Given that
improvement of the emissions. As clearly identified 85% of total energy consumption
efficiency with which in the Transport White Paper, by the rail sector is used directly to
energy is consumed Europe needs to reduce its import power the trains, this will have an
by end-users is a central theme of dependence for all fossil fuels. important impact on rail’s energy
the EU’s energy policy. In the field efficiency.
of transportation, high energy By using electricity, which can
efficiency is a main environmental draw its power from a range of The figure below compares the
characteristic of the rail system sources, rail is the only major primary energy consumption
and applies both to passenger transport mode not dependent of different transport modes
and freight rail transport. almost entirely on fossil fuels. between Brussels’ and Berlin’s city
Rail only accounts for 2% of total centres. For passenger transport,
Moreover with its strong focus energy consumption in transport energy consumption travelling
on efficiency, EU energy policy is although it carries 17.4% of inland by rail is 1.4 times lower than by
closely related to climate policies freight and 6.2% of passengers road, and almost 1.7 times lower
in Europe. Railways steadily than flying.
improved their energy efficiency
in both passenger and freight Even though rail is already
transport from 1990 to 2011: more energy efficient than
on average, they were able to most other transport modes,
reduce the energy used for every significant efforts have been
passenger-km by 17% and by made at company level in the
23% for every tonne-km. last decade - and continue to be
made - to improve the energy
In the 2010 strategy ‘Moving efficiency of their activities. To
towards Sustainable Mobility: this end European railways are
European Rail Sector Strategy implementing driver advisory
2030 and beyond’, the rail sector systems, eco driving and energy-
agreed that by 2030 the European efficient traffic management. l
railways will have reduced their
specific final energy consumption
from train operations by 30%
Energy management is a key issue for railway systems and will continue Source: www.ecopassenger.org
to be a prominent focus area for the foreseeable future. The MERLIN
project, part of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme
for Research and Technological Development, is investigating and
demonstrating the viability of an integrated management system to
achieve a more sustainable energy usage in European electric mainline
railway systems. MERLIN will provide an integrated optimisation
approach to a cost-effective intelligent management of energy and
resources, and will also deliver the interface protocol and architecture
for energy management systems in the railway domain. A 10%
reduction in energy consumption is expected to be achieved where
the results of the project are implemented.
More information about MERLIN: http://www.merlin-rail.eu
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
