The event, which was sponsored by Neuman & Esser Group, Ricardo Rail, and Hexagon Purus, covered everything from hydrogen trains and refueling infrastructure, train efficiency, hydrogen filling simulation, retrofit, batteries, and power electronics to CO2 evaluation and hydrogen internal combustion engines.
Will Wilson, CEO of Siemens Mobility Ltd, opened the event by discussion how the UK’s rail decarbonization efforts need to be accelerated if the industry is to meet the government’s net zero target of 2050. “It is difficult and complex to replace whole fleets of ageing trains, but it is doable,” he said. “But only if we go much faster than we are today. The stark truth is that the UK is in real danger of missing its climate change targets unless we speed up electrification and introduce hydrogen into our rail infrastructure and on our trains.”
He went on to call on the UK Government to commit to an ambitious plan for Great British Railways – the state-owned public body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from 2023 – to electrify at least 300 miles of track every year. “This needs to be started now and continue until 2050 and beyond,” he said. “We also call on the government to bring in hydrogen and the associated infrastructure as soon as 2030, so we can replace ageing polluting fleets.”
Wilson highlighted that all technologies, including batteries, hydrogen, and electrification, should be used in tandem to decarbonize the railways, and that there is a need for greater modal shift to encourage more people to travel by train. “Government, local authorities and the transport sector need to better collaborate to achieve this,” he added.
Other speakers during the EHRT online event included Jens Wulff, managing director at Neuman & Esser Group, who spoke about how simulation can be used to optimize hydrogen refuelling on trains; Bart van der Spiegel, expert of energy management at Belgium’s rail infrastructure owner, Infrabel, who covered how to increase the energy efficiency of trains; and Matthieu Renault, technical batch manager at France’s SNCF, who discussed PLANETER, a program to reduce the environmental impact of regional mobility based on the belief that with more regional trains there will be much less greenhouse gases.
Following Renault, Marc-Andre Sahba, lead project manager, for the H2goesRail project at Deutsche Bahn (DB), and Christian Pieper, project manager of alternative drives and infrastructure at DB Energie, provided an insight into how green mobility is being tested and adopted in Germany. DB wants to be climate-neutral by 2040 and is currently working with Siemens Mobility to develop a hydrogen-powered train and hydrogen refueling station.
Looking back at some of the key lessons learned so far on the H2goesRail project, Sahba said, “Communication is key in a project like this. If we want to have hydrogen filling times that are the same as diesel, we need to establish a communication between the train and the infrastructure. This needs to control the fueling process, which will in turn reduce costs and fueling times. Therefore, the train needs to be equipped with tech to communicate so it is ready for fast filling. In this area, there is some work that needs to be done on the manufacturer side to secure that, because otherwise hydrogen won’t be competitive to diesel trains.
“We also need to consider hydrogen quality and where it comes from. We need to ensure that we use green hydrogen only, and we need to consider the whole supply chain, from the source to the train and that this is net zero,” he added.
Alexander Burrows, director of enterprise and innovation at Birmingham Centre for Railway Research & Education (BCRRE), who spoke just before the lunch break, took a whole system approach to rail decarbonization in his presentation. Burrows highlighted the work done with Porterbrook on the HydroFLEX train and how BCRRE is now using experience gained from projects like this to help other regions, such as Africa, look at how they can decarbonize their rail sector.
Looking at whether electrification, battery-power or hydrogen is the best option for clean trains, he said, “You can’t make a business case for very lightly used routes to be electrified. The cost is significant and of course you would have to buy new electric trains as well. Therefore, the business case is very strong on key routes for hydrogen and battery powered trains, both as transitional solutions, and for the more remote, lightly used routes.”
The Electric & Hybrid Rail Technology online event also included a very well attended and insightful panel discussion which asked: hydrogen or batteries – what is the best alternative to diesel? The overwhelming consensus from both panelists and attendees was that a combination of all three is needed if the rail sector wants to hit net zero.
The afternoon session included presentations from Lorna McDonald, head of commuter sales (rolling stock) at Hitachi Rail who looked at the development of new technologies for a green future; Senthilnathan Mariappan and Thomas Huggenberger, both product managers at ABB, who discussed the acceleration of emission-free railways through modular propulsion and energy storage solutions; Sven Schirmer, TCO CO2 ambassador at Austria’s ÖBB, who covered the evaluation of CO2 emissions in the procurement of sustainable train technology; and Felix Grass, sales director of Europe rail & distribution at Hexagon Purus, who provided an insight into hydrogen fuel tank systems for rail applications.
Closing the event, Jonathan Brown, global decarbonization and sustainability lead at Ricardo Rail discussed the main pathways to a hydrogen future in rail. Looking at whether now is the right time for hydrogen internal combustion engines, he said, “The technology is relatively proven and robust, and what is interesting is that you can convert your existing hardware. There is a huge fleet of diesel engine rail vehicles worldwide, many of which are relatively new, and it would be a very big commercial risk to throw those engines away and try and replace them with completely new propulsion systems. If you can convert them, significant savings can be achieved, and what that allows you to do is invest that cash into the operational and logistics side. Hydrogen combustion engines can be looked at as a steppingstone technology that allow us to minimize the pain of our transition into a hydrogen future.”
Find out more about the event here: https://www.electrichybridrailconference.com/