Using NASA-Patented technology, designer Francesco Codicè has designed a new concept for purifying air on trains.

Trains provide a greener alternative to transportation than driving or flying, but US trains could definitely use a design update. Codicè’s AirTrain is a modern and elegant solution to the often stuffy and stale air of the indoors. AirTrain purifies air with live plants and recycled rain water.

The design includes an exterior rain collection system for watering the plants. Not only purifying the air, the plants provide a more aesthetically-pleasing environment for travelers.

Article by Karen MacKay, appearing courtesy crispgreen.com.

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This is a big day for the Department of Transportation, for the Obama Administration, and for the American people.  We are bringing President Obama's vision of American high-speed rail one step closer to reality with $2.02 billion in targeted investments.

And I am thrilled.

Today we are advancing President Obama's historic high-speed rail blueprint through 22 carefully selected projects that will create jobs, boost manufacturing, and spur development while laying the foundation for our future economic competitiveness. We are providing two billion dollars to 15 states and Amtrak to help build out America's high-speed rail network, enabling people and goods to travel more quickly, safely and energy-efficiently than ever before.

When DOT announced the competition for these awards in March, we were inundated with 98 applications seeking more than $10 billion.  Americans heard the President's plan to connect 80 percent of the nation to high-speed rail in the next 25 years, and they responded with a loud and clear, "Yes!"

And it’s no wonder. High-speed rail offers significant economic and practical benefits for the states and regions that build these lines and the passengers who ride them.

Already, high-speed rail upgrades are employing workers laying 96 miles of track on the Chicago-St. Louis run. Workers in Maine are also laying track–welded in America–between Boston and Portland. And in Sacramento and San Jose, construction workers are building intermodal stations that will be home to California’s high-speed corridor.

A strict “Buy America” requirement for high-speed rail projects ensures that U.S. manufacturers and their workers will receive the maximum economic benefits from our investment. In 2009, I also secured a commitment from 30 foreign and domestic rail manufacturers to employ American workers and locate or expand their base of operations in the U.S. if they are selected for high-speed-rail contracts.

There are other early signs of high-speed rail’s economic promise: In Brunswick, Maine, private investment has already gravitated toward the Brunswick Station neighborhood. Economic development there includes a number of businesses, residential condominiums, a new hotel, and a modern medical center. And along every planned corridor, cities and towns are clamoring for intermodal rail stations because they know it will boost development in their communities.

High-speed rail service will also help us move goods and people more efficiently. By 2050, the United States will be home to 100 million additional people. That’s the equivalent of adding another California, Texas, New York, and Florida combined. Our transportation networks simply cannot accommodate that kind of growth, and if we settle for the status quo, our children and grandchildren will remain dependent on foreign oil and continue to suffer from ever-higher gas prices.

High-speed rail can and should complement other forms of transportation to loosen bottlenecks and free up the freight capacity needed to keep our economy firing on all cylinders.

Across the U.S., 32 states and the District of Columbia are already preparing for high-speed rail corridors to link Americans with faster and more energy-efficient travel options. And the dedicated rail grants we’re announcing today will:

* Make an unprecedented investment in the Northeast Corridor, enabling trains to reach speeds between 135 and 160 mph;
* Expand high-speed rail service in the Midwest, creating 1000 jobs in the construction phase alone building the Chicago-Detroit line;
* Boost U.S. manufacturing by investing in state-of-the-art locomotives and rail cars for California and the Midwest; and
* Continue laying the groundwork for the nation’s first 220-mph high-speed rail system in California.

For a complete list of projects and their awards, please visit www.dot.gov.

If I sound excited about the prospect of American high-speed rail, it’s because I am. High-speed intercity passenger rail offers real, practical benefits–benefits we cannot afford to ignore. Jobs, manufacturing, economic development, reduced dependence on foreign oil, and a future economy that can truly serve our population–today’s awards bring those benefits one step closer.

Article by Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation.

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Going forward, how do localities move forward in the 21st Century? While a lot of metro areas depend largely on the traditional mode of transportation–cars to get to and from their destinations. However, what separates traditional metro areas from those of the 21st Century is one of commitment to green and alternative transportation. While some metro localities continue with the status, some are progressing into the 21st Century in terms of their commitment to green and alternative transportation, namely in the form of expanding public transit.

One such metro area that is planning for the future–21st Century–is the Metro Atlanta area. In fact,the metro Atlanta area has dedicated “more than half of the $22.8 billion in formal applications (to the state), $13.5 billion were mass transit projects, compared with $8.5 billion in road projects, according to AJC.” As a result, thinking about the future means making a serious commitment from localities to show that they want something other than what has already been the traditional method of transportation–something different, something green, something unique, and finally something that moves the Metro Atlanta region forward rather than backward.

As such, it is great that $13.5 billion of their “formal applications” are for mass transit projects rather than traditional infrastructure projects which have relied primarily on building more bridges, overpasses, and highways. In other words, the Atlanta area is looking at ways to change the notion of what suburbia has come to mean here in the U.S.–miles and miles of endless roads. Instead of endless roads, Metro Atlanta recognizes that suburbia should change its “regional culture” from one of dependence on cars to one that is dependent on green alternative forms of transportation such as mass transit.

Changing such a culture clearly begins with the small step of localities such as Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta requesting funds from the state that are primarily mass transit and other forms of transportation other than more and more road projects which has traditionally been the case. Thus, to alleviate traffic congestion that often plagues suburban communities like Cobb County, there should be rail lines that extend from the city of Atlanta way out into its suburban communities. Such a change appears to be coming with Atlanta’s suburbs taking a step in the right direction through their commitment to spend more on the future and less on the past. To meet that goal, instead of requesting money to widen suburban highways, they have made a request for spending on new and innovative infrastructure projects in the form of mass transit.

Article by Patrick Kenney, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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Since the Department of Transportation announced the availability of an additional $2.4 billion for high-speed rail projects last month, governors and members of Congress from both major parties have been clamoring for the opportunity to participate.

As of our Monday deadline, we received more than 90 applications from 24 states, the District of Columbia, and Amtrak.  The preliminary total of those requests is nearly $10 billion, more than four times what we have available. 

Why is demand for high-speed rail support so high?

Because elected officials have seen the immediate benefits of jobs where rail work has already begun.  They've seen these jobs in Maine–where the Downeaster extension to Brunswick is under construction–and they've seen them in Illinois–where 96 miles of track are now being laid for the Chicago-St. Louis high-speed corridor. 

Demand is high because these leaders–Democrats and Republicans–have also seen the expanded manufacturing activity in Indiana, where the workers of Steel Dynamics are forging track. They know that 30 other manufacturers and suppliers have agreed to build or expand operations in the U.S. should they participate in high-speed rail projects. They know that our Buy America requirements ensure they’ll be using American-made supplies and materials, so U.S. companies, workers, and communities will receive the maximum economic benefit of our high-speed rail investment.

And demand is high because they can’t ignore the economic development that rail corridors deliver. They’ve heard about the success of Brunswick Station, where private investment has already helped generate a number of businesses, condominiums, a new hotel, and a modern medical center. They’ve heard about the 240 acres under redevelopment near the Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Facility, and the transit-oriented land-use planning that centers on San Jose’s Diridon Station. They’ve heard about towns seeking high-speed rail stops so businesses will plant roots, confident that they have access to a 21st century transportation option that helps them compete in the global economy.

From Maine to the Midwest to California, construction has begun on America’s high-speed rail facilities, and we can’t afford to see this train turn back.

By 2050, our population is expected to grow by another 100 million people. That’s nearly a third more than we have now–roughly the equivalent of adding another California, New York, Texas, and Florida. And those people will need to get to jobs, schools, grocery stores, and from city to city, adding tens of millions of cars to our already congested roadways. They will need goods and services, adding trucks.

If we refuse to plan ahead, our commercial arteries will be constricted, preventing businesses from moving goods to markets and choking our economy.

Today, our Federal Railroad Administration will begin determining which of the more than 90 projects can quickly deliver benefits like sustained economic development, reduced energy consumption, and improved regional transportation efficiency.

But while the FRA is reviewing the latest applications, our existing rail investments are already creating jobs, boosting American rail manufacturing, and spurring economic development. And rail can do these things while also reducing oil consumpttion, greenhouse gas emissions, and road congestion.

That’s the kind of investment we owe the next generation of Americans. That’s the kind of investment that will help this nation win the future.

Article by Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation.

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In recent months, several conservative governors have rejected federal funds to begin constructing high-speed rail lines in their states. But a high-speed rail advocate argues that such ideologically driven actions are folly, as other U.S. states and countries around the world are moving swiftly to embrace a technology that is essential for competitive 21st-century economies.

China has committed to investing $360 billion to vastly expand its showcase network of high-speed trains, which already carry passengers at more than 200 miles per hour between some of the country’s largest cities.

Spain, despite its economic woes, is investing $170 billion to extend its acclaimed high-speed rail system, which now makes the 386-mile Madrid-Barcelona run in just 2 hours, 38 minutes — compared to six hours by car. A similar boom in high-speed rail construction is taking place throughout Europe, from the boot of Italy to the Baltic Sea.

Worldwide, nations not normally associated with the bullet train revolution — India, Brazil, Argentina, and Morocco, among others — are making plans to build high-speed rail networks. They understand that rapid, inter-city rail systems will be essential to developing competitive 21st-century economies as oil supplies dwindle, highways and airports face increasing congestion, and pressure to reduce carbon emissions rises.

And the United States? For the past several months the news on the high-speed rail front has been dominated by several governors, swept into power by the Tea Party movement, proudly proclaiming that they will have nothing to do with high-speed rail projects, which they contend are boondoggles. Indeed, the governors of Florida, Wisconsin, and Ohio have collectively rejected $3.6 billion in federal funds that would have covered nearly all of the cost of building rail lines on such routes as Orlando to Tampa, Milwaukee to Madison, and Cleveland to Columbus.

The actions of the three governors undermine the job creation that they tout as central to their administrations.

Fortunately, the foresight of the Obama administration and various states will ensure that the foundation of a national high-speed rail network will be laid in the coming years, with $8 billion in federal stimulus funds going to construct the first links in a high-speed rail network that is envisioned to stretch 17,000 miles by 2030. Bullet trains would eventually whisk people between all major U.S. cities — Los Angeles to Seattle, Dallas to Albuquerque, and Boston to Washington, at 220 miles per hour. The cost of such a network would be significant — $600 billion — but a combination of public and private funds would build the system, which would eventually yield benefits that far exceed the original investment.

For now, the U.S. funds rejected by governors Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and John Kasich of Ohio, will be distributed to other states such as California and Illinois, which will benefit for years to come from the job creation and economic stimulus that will accompany the establishment of high-speed rail networks. In the future, the actions by these three governors will be viewed as folly, decisions that were made on ideological rather than rational grounds and that undermine the job creation that the three governors tout as central to their administrations.

The decisions of the three Republican governors were not isolated acts, but rather a coordinated effort by the Tea Party and its allies to attempt to kill high-speed rail across America. Fortunately, 35 other governors — Republicans and Democrats alike — whose states were eligible for federal high-speed rail funding did accept U.S. grants for rail projects.

Last month’s decision by Governor Scott of Florida to reject federal funding for high-speed rail reflects the combination of bad information and partisan thinking that motivated all three governors to turn their backs on the future. In making his decision, Scott says he relied heavily on a January report by the libertarian Reason Foundation, which is funded by major conservative organizations, oil companies, and companies involved in highway construction.

The Reason Foundation report was riddled with inaccuracies, exaggerations, and distortions, such as a claim that the construction of the Orlando-Tampa line could cost Florida taxpayers $3 billion in capital cost overruns. That figure was arrived at by comparing the project in Florida to California, which faces far tougher right-of-way and land-use issues. The Tampa-Orlando line already has a long-established right of way on the Interstate 4 median, making it much cheaper to build. In addition, the international rail consortium that seeks to construct the Florida line has guaranteed that it will cover operation, maintenance, and subsidy costs for 30 years.

After rejecting the federal funds, Scott’s office issued a statement that he “is now focused on moving forward with infrastructure projects that create long-term jobs and turn Florida’s economy around.” Those new projects will require far more Florida tax dollars than would ever have been spent on the Tampa to Orlando line, prompting former Republican Governor Jeb Bush to express surprise at Scott’s decision. Fifteen Republican and 11 Democratic state senators in Florida also signed a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asking him to ignore Scott and allow the legislature to work with the international consortium to revive the Tampa to Orlando project.

The Florida line would connect Tampa and Orlando with Walt Disney World, one of the world’s top tourist attractions.

In addition, a group of Florida mayors is speaking with LaHood about bypassing the governor and allowing an organization formed by the mayors to receive the federal funds and oversee the building of the Tampa-Orlando line. This effort underscores the broad, bipartisan backing for the project, as evidenced by the fact that eight business associations from 11 counties in central Florida are staunch supporters of the proposed rail line. One key reason: The line would connect Tampa and Orlando with Walt Disney World, one of the world’s top tourist attractions.

The reasons that so many disparate interests support the creation of a national high-speed rail network are glaringly obvious, and are becoming more so by the day. The United States has become far too dependent on foreign oil, with Americans consuming six times more oil per capita than Europeans, who enjoy better, faster, and cheaper mobility. The U.S now spends up to $700 billion a year to import foreign oil, 70 percent of which is consumed by cars, trucks, and airplanes.

Now, for the second time in less than three years, the price of oil has shot up past $100 a barrel, threatening the fragile economic recovery. And most experts agree that the world has passed the point of peak oil, which means that as demand soars and supplies dwindle, oil prices could hit $300 per barrel this decade.

Enhancing U.S. energy security is just one reason the country needs a state-of-the-art high-speed rail system, which by 2030 could transport millions of people each day between America’s cities. A national high-speed rail system would generate millions of jobs; help revive the country’s manufacturing sector by creating a new industry producing the trains, steel, and related components; alleviate pressure on a crumbling transportation infrastructure; and lessen the ever-worsening congestion on America’s highways and at its airports, where delays cause an estimated $156 billion in losses to the U.S. economy annually. And then there is climate change and the large-scale reduction of CO2 emissions that would result from the creation of an interstate high-speed rail system and the expansion of regional commuter rail systems.

As a high-speed rail network spreads across the U.S. in the coming decades, the costs of operating the national transportation system will decline each year to the point where the savings will eventually exceed the estimated $600 billion cost of building the rail system. Although public funds will be used to cover much of the construction costs, the network will perform best if operated by private companies.

The U.S. must build a national high-speed rail network if it hopes to maintain its competitiveness in the world economy. China and Europe are now moving ahead with their high-speed rail networks at breakneck speed, which means that in a decade or two they will have significantly reduced their dependence on imported oil, created tens of millions of new jobs, and saved their countries trillions of dollars by vastly improving the productivity of their economies thanks to a low-carbon transportation sector that moves people and goods at speeds that could one day hit 300 miles per hour, or more.

The U.S. can be part of that future. But if more states follow the example of Florida, Wisconsin, and Ohio, the country will remain shackled by 19th- and 20th-century forms of transportation in a 21st-century world. Contemplate this image: China, Europe, Russia, South America, and other parts of the globe are streaking by at 250 miles per hour while the likes of Governor Scott are stuck in a traffic jam on an interstate, watching the trains whiz past.

Article by Andy Kunz, appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Japan has long been at the forefront of high speed rail development since they laid down the first tracks for the Shinkansen system back in the 1960s. Since then, the bullet trains in Japan have grown into the busiest high speed rail line in the world and serve as the example for what high speed rail can become in other countries. Now, with the bullet train technology getting up there in age, Japan is preparing to put plans into motion to adopt a magnetic levitation system within the next twenty years.

According to an announcement by the Central Japan Railway Company, there are currently plans in place to improve upon an existing 178 miles of track in order to allow the implementation of magnetic levitation trains. The tracks in question are already a part of the company’s popular Tokyo to Osaka line that has been ferrying passengers between the two cities on bullet trains for years. The new trains, which are capable of a top speed of 310 miles per hour, are expected to take only forty minutes to pass between the two cities, which is down from the previous ninety-five minutes with the bullet trains, creating a more desirable on-ground transportation service. The trains would be, like the current bullet trains, designed to operate solely off electric systems.

Though the plans may be nearing the point where they can be put into effect only now, Japan has been experimenting with maglev train technology since the late 1990s. The technology has been developed not only with the improvement of Japan’s rail system in mind but also with an eye on selling the technology overseas. Last year, the Central Japan Railway Company began to work closely with the United States transportation secretary and other officials to determine if Obama’s plans to support high speed rail development would provide a market for the Japanese company. With China quickly developing high speed rail technology themselves, Japan believes it is critical to stay ahead of the game and secure customers for their own maglev technology.

The current plan for the implementation of the maglev trains in Japan is to have them ready for operation by 2027. The project, which is expected to cost an estimated $64 billion, could be only the beginning of another plan to further expand the Japanese high speed rail lines to accommodate more trains and lines by 2047. With both Japan and China furiously working towards developing maglev technology, it should be interesting to see whether Japan, the veterans in the high speed rail game, will come out on top.

Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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Take a look at any one of the concentrating solar power (CSP) projects in the U.S. and elsewhere, and you can see that – while CSP is undeniably the most efficient form of solar energy—the land needed (5 to 10 acres per megawatt) is considerable.

At least, it used to be. Now, a company called Nanogen Power Systems, Inc. has developed CSP technology that deploys from a shipping container.

Shippable Solar for Disaster Relief

Currently being used (or recommended) for backup power supply in crisis situations around the globe, the 1-MW (P3) unit supports civilian power delivery, governmental power security, and even military power needs in a country facing civil unrest, for example. These freestanding, off-grid power plants are also great in emerging nations whose remote communities can’t begin to prosper and build infrastructure without reliable power.

The cost, about $0.12 to $0.18 per kilowatt hour, is competitive with coal. Even expensive silicon solar can’t achieve much more than 15 percent efficiency, at three times the cost of CSP, and thin-film provides only 12 percent for twice the cost.

Bedroom-Sized Portability

The typical shipping container is 19.5 feet long, and a 40-foot cargo container is 39 feet long. In terms of human-sized living space, the 20-footer is the equivalent of a room about 133 square feet, or about 10 feet wide and 13 feet long. In other words, the average person’s bedroom. Yet according to Nanogen, three of these contain enough space to crate and ship an entire 1-megawatt (MW) CSP system.

This means putting the steam turbine and generator in a 20-foot unit, and the parabolic trough collectors (with fold-down walls) in two 40-foot units. Because the CSP components are shipped in standard steel cargo containers, there are no zoning issues or building permits required.

Once on the ground, two workers equipped with a laser level and a compass align the two containers with the sun, drop the solar-trough-containing walls, and complete the plumbing.

The turbine/generator unit is equally “plug-n-play,” needing only water pipe sections. In fact, two workers can assemble the unit in two days without heavy equipment, according to Nanogen.

I wonder just how long it will be until homeowners with a bit of land will begin to demand their own container-sized CSP systems. After all, if the technology is that simple, what’s to prevent the average joe from capitalizing on the one form of solar power that really delivers a bang for every buck: 11 to 14 percent for solar trough systems – a figure that rises rapidly to more than 25 percent when using molten salt or other storage technologies.

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Imagine the last time you took a trip between two American cities.  Maybe you had to wait in line at a crowded airport; maybe you spent hours in traffic in a car or a bus.  Or maybe you made the trip on a train that had to slow down over and over because it was running on outdated tracks.

Now think about the fact that over the next 40 years, the population of the US is projected to grow by 100 million, and consider how much that’ll increase the use of our roads, airports, and rail.  Now imagine what that same trip you took will be like if we don’t build the transportation infrastructure we need to accommodate those extra travelers.

The fact is, those folks are going to travel one way or another.  But it’s up to us whether they travel on the infrastructure of the past, or whether they travel on new 21st century transportation infrastructure that’s fast, modern, efficient, and environmentally friendly.

That’s why Vice President Biden traveled to Philadelphia yesterday to announce a comprehensive plan to help the nation reach President Obama’s goal of giving 80 percent of Americans access to high-speed rail within 25 years.  The President is proposing to invest $53 billion over the next six years to continue construction of a national high-speed and intercity passenger rail network, which will create tens of thousands of private-sector jobs while helping to lay a new foundation for our economy.

Building a national high-speed rail network is a key part of this Administration’s plan to out-build, out-innovate, and out-compete the rest of the world. As Vice President Biden said in Philadelphia today, public infrastructure investment increases private-sector productivity, promotes growth, and creates jobs. Transportation infrastructure is the lifeblood of the global economy; if we can’t move goods and people faster and more efficiently than our competition, there’s no way we’re going to remain the most prosperous and productive country in the world.

But why high-speed rail? Why not build more highways and airports?

Look at it this way: in dense, highly populated regions like the Northeast Corridor, building just one mile of one lane of highway costs $40 to $50 million. And it doesn’t get any easier when you look at airports; adding a single extra runway at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport recently cost $1.3 billion. Worse yet, many of the airports in our most congested areas are surrounded by development and can’t be expanded, which makes it almost impossible to add more flights in and out of cities like New York.

And beyond the dollar costs of highways and airports, you have to consider their environmental cost in terms of increased carbon emissions: an Amtrak train between Philadelphia and New York can carry up to 500 passengers, and if those folks drove instead, they would use more than 1,900 gallons of gas. Not only is that roughly double the energy used by that train, but most of it comes from foreign oil.

But most important of all are the human costs of our aging transportation system. As the Vice President said today, “Think about the difference rail travel makes in people’s lives. I know, because when I was in the senate, it made an incredible difference in mine. Every minute you’re not stuck in traffic, or working your way through airport security, is a minute more that you can spend with your families.”

Billions of hours were wasted last year in congestion on American highways. And in our airports, the percentage of flights landing at least two hours late has more than doubled since 1990. Even on the Acela Express – the fastest train in the Northeast Corridor, which the Vice President rode today – it takes 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to New York City. That’s only about 45 minutes faster than in the 1940s.

We want to change that. Through our investments in high-speed rail, we’re hoping to cut the time for that trip to just 96 minutes. Over the next 25 years, our goal is to build high-speed and intercity passenger rail capacity equivalent to 1,900 miles of new highway, but with trains zipping along at up to 220 miles per hour in our most densely populated corridors. And we’re proposing to expand faster rail service to emerging and regional corridors as well, so that we can ultimately give 80 percent of Americans access to these core high-speed rail lines.

This is already happening in countries around the world, and as the Vice President said in Philadelphia today, there’s no reason we can’t do it here. Building a cutting-edge transportation system is the only way we’re going to keep leading the world. So let’s start building.

Article by Tobin Marcus, Deputy Economic Policy Advisor in the Office of the Vice President.

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The ecomagination team at GE is pushing renewable energy limits with heat capture and hybrid dynamic braking on trains.

The energy that’s generated when stopping a train is quite substantial and GE’s ecomagination team is discovering ways to capture that energy. In a conventional train engine, that energy is dissipated as heat and lost to the atmosphere.

GE is developing technologies that can capture and store that energy in a series of sophisticated regenerative batteries, using the hybrid dynamic braking system developed by GE’s ecomagination team.

The energy can then be reused by the crew on demand, reducing fuel consumption by as much as 15 percent and emissions by as much as 50% compared to most freight locomotives in use today.

According to GE, the energy dissipated in braking a 207-ton locomotive during the course of one year is enough to power over 8,900 average US households for a year. If every locomotive in North America manufactured before 2001 were replaced with GE’s hybrid technology, in a single year nitrogen oxide emissions would be cut at a level comparable to removing nearly one third of all cars from US roads.

In addition to saving fuel, GE’s hybrid locomotive could save $425 million each year on fuel expenditures if they were to replace all current locomotives.

Read more about GE’s Rebirth of the Rails project here.

Article by Karen Mackay, appearing courtesy Crisp Green.

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A new study identifies the high-speed rail corridors in the U.S. with the greatest potential to attract ridership in the nation’s so-called “megaregions.” The study by the group America 2050 scores 7,870 potential rail corridors using 12 critical factors, including population, employment concentrations, rail transit accessibility, and air travel markets.

In addition to obvious potential markets such as New York to Washington and Los Angeles to San Diego, the study cites other megaregions with the potential to have well-developed high speed rail systems, including Chicago to Milwaukee and Dallas to Houston.

The study encourages the federal government to conduct a similar evaluation to decide where investment in high speed rail systems should be concentrated. The study only considered rail lines that extend from 100 to 600 miles, a distance at which trains can compete with automobiles and aviation.

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