http://www.schinnerer.com/blogs/rm/tags/high-speed rail/ Shortening our publishing cycle en Paul Riccardi Mon, 21 May 2012 12:26:00 GMT Pebble (http://pebble.sourceforge.net) http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.schinnerer.com/blogs/rm/2011/06/14/sun_powered_high_speed_rail.html <p>Progress was made in Europe on the transportation front, as a high-speed rail line running between Paris and Amsterdam <a href="http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/sun-powered-high-speed-rail-rises-in-europe/6842">now runs partially on the sun</a>. The train draws power from 2.1 miles of solar panels that sit atop a train tunnel.</p> <p>Trains with solar roofs are not completely new; they first appeared in Italy in 2005. However, those earlier panels only served to keep the train&rsquo;s air conditioning units running. The new solar panels, which are located on a stretch of rail that runs through Belgium, can power the equivalent of 4,000 train trips and cut the railway&rsquo;s carbon dioxide input by 2,400 tons annually.</p> <div>Other projects in Europe will incorporate solar energy as well, including London&rsquo;s new Blackfriar station (set to open next year), which will obtain half of its electricity needs from the sun.</div> http://www.schinnerer.com/blogs/rm/2011/06/14/sun_powered_high_speed_rail.html#comments http://www.schinnerer.com/blogs/rm/2011/06/14/sun_powered_high_speed_rail.html Tue, 14 Jun 2011 16:04:00 GMT