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Economic, environmental and grid-resilience benefits of converting diesel trains to battery-electric

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  • Natalie D. Popovich

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

  • Deepak Rajagopal

    (University of California)

  • Elif Tasar

    (University of California)

  • Amol Phadke

    (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

Abstract

Nearly all US locomotives are propelled by diesel-electric drives, which emit 35 million tonnes of CO2 and produce air pollution causing about 1,000 premature deaths annually, accounting for approximately US$6.5 billion in annual health damage costs. Improved battery technology plus access to cheap renewable electricity open the possibility of battery-electric rail. Here we show that a 241-km range can be achieved using a single standard boxcar equipped with a 14-MWh battery and inverter, while consuming half the energy consumed by diesel trains. At near-future battery prices, battery-electric trains can achieve parity with diesel-electric trains if environmental costs are included or if rail companies can access wholesale electricity prices and achieve 40% use of fast-charging infrastructure. Accounting for reduced criteria air pollutants and CO2 emissions, switching to battery-electric propulsion would save the US freight rail sector US$94 billion over 20 years.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalie D. Popovich & Deepak Rajagopal & Elif Tasar & Amol Phadke, 2021. "Economic, environmental and grid-resilience benefits of converting diesel trains to battery-electric," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(11), pages 1017-1025, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:6:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41560-021-00915-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-021-00915-5
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    1. Dmitrii Bogdanov & Javier Farfan & Kristina Sadovskaia & Arman Aghahosseini & Michael Child & Ashish Gulagi & Ayobami Solomon Oyewo & Larissa Souza Noel Simas Barbosa & Christian Breyer, 2019. "Radical transformation pathway towards sustainable electricity via evolutionary steps," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Breschi, Valentina & Ravazzi, Chiara & Strada, Silvia & Dabbene, Fabrizio & Tanelli, Mara, 2023. "Driving electric vehicles’ mass adoption: An architecture for the design of human-centric policies to meet climate and societal goals," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    2. Ahsan, Nabeel & Hewage, Kasun & Razi, Faran & Hussain, Syed Asad & Sadiq, Rehan, 2023. "A critical review of sustainable rail technologies based on environmental, economic, social, and technical perspectives to achieve net zero emissions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. John P. Barton & Murray Thomson, 2021. "Solar Power and Energy Storage for Decarbonization of Land Transport in India," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-24, December.
    4. Ng, Max T.M. & Hernandez, Adrian & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L. & Mahmassani, Hani S., 2024. "Trading off energy storage and payload – An analytical model for freight train configuration," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Yue, Xiyan & Qiao, Bozheng & Wang, Jiajia & Xie, Zhengkun & Liu, Zhao & Yang, Zhengpeng & Abudula, Abuliti & Guan, Guoqing, 2023. "Layered metal chalcogenide based anode materials for high performance sodium ion batteries: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    6. Kumar, Gokula Manikandan Senthil & Cao, Sunliang, 2023. "Leveraging energy flexibilities for enhancing the cost-effectiveness and grid-responsiveness of net-zero-energy metro railway and station systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    7. Hernandez, Adrian & Ng, Max & Durango-Cohen, Pablo L. & Mahmassani, Hani S., 2024. "Optimizing service networks to support freight rail decarbonization: Flow selection, facility location, and energy sourcing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 317(3), pages 906-920.
    8. Jessica Kersey & Natalie D. Popovich & Amol A. Phadke, 2022. "Rapid battery cost declines accelerate the prospects of all-electric interregional container shipping," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(7), pages 664-674, July.
    9. He, Hongwen & Meng, Xiangfei & Wang, Yong & Khajepour, Amir & An, Xiaowen & Wang, Renguang & Sun, Fengchun, 2024. "Deep reinforcement learning based energy management strategies for electrified vehicles: Recent advances and perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).

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