Green Options

The Norfolk Southern Railway recently debuted a green transportation option that’s among the first of its kind. It’s currently only a prototype, but is just the beginning of things to come; with plans by 2011 to unveil a long-range locomotive that will produce zero-emissions.

Norfolk Southern unveiled an all-electric locomotive this week at its Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, PA The 1,500 horsepower locomotive gets its power from 1,080 12-volt lead-acid batteries, the same kind found under the hoods of most cars.

No diesel motor here, just all electric baby.

On the south side of Chicago where railroads are an integral part of the community’s history, CSX, one of the nation’s biggest railroads has begun rolling out a fleet of new diesel GenSet switcher locomotives that can slash CO2 emissions in half and cut particulate emissions up to 80%. I was fortunate to be invited by CSX to take a look at these new locomotives located at [...]

Okay. Let me get this one out of the way: gas hasn’t been all bad. In fact, gas has allowed us to accomplish some pretty amazing things. To be clear, when I say “gas,” I’m using the term as an easy way to loosely refer to all liquid fuel products made from buried and fossilized hydrocarbon deposits.

Ooooh… I can hear the flamers’ keys clicking away furiously already. But, before you type that horribly thought out gunslinging response, hear me out.

Most railroads have shown a reluctance to use a biodiesel blend in their locomotives, but the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad has decided to test the concept this summer.

The first biodiesel blend train pulled out of Creston last week, hauling 52 cars of wheat and 500 gallons of biodiesel in the locomotives saddlebag tanks.  Officials are using a 25 percent blend of biodiesel in the tests.

The fuel is made by Columbia Bioenergy, located in Creston, which uses canola oil, restaurant grease, soy and other crops as feedstock.