Green Trains On Their Way To Power One Of The World’s Most Abundant Mining Regions
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
It is a comprehensive article, with maps, pictures and background information about the project I wrote about in Anglo American And Aurizon Look To Hydrogen-Powered Trains, that will create hydrogen-powered freight locomotives for Australia.
It should be noted that Aurizon operates a few hundred diesel-electric locomotives, so switching to hydrogen, would probably cut a lot of carbon emissions.
The African Nation Aiming To Be A Hydrogen Superpower
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on the BBC.
It is a fascinating tale of how Namibia aims to modernise its economy, by becoming a major producer of hydrogen using electricity generated by wind and solar power.
Conclusion
Could other countries follow Namibia’s lead?
Kawasaki’s Liquefied Hydrogen Carrier Departs To Pick Up First Cargo
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Green Car Congress.
This is the first paragraph.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Suiso Frontier, the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier, has left Japan to pick up its first hydrogen cargo in Australia. A return to Japan is expected around late February.
As the cargo is only seventy-five tonnes of liquid hydrogen, I have my doubts about shipping hydrogen from Australia to Japan.
Late February is two months away, so this represents a production rate of 37.5 tonnes per month.
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
This would mean that if the Japanese built one Herne Bay-size electrolyser, then it would produce around three hundred tonnes of hydrogen in an average month.
The only possible use for this ship at the moment, is as a research project to identify the problems of the transportation of hydrogen over long distances by sea.
But we may need to use ships for the coastal transportation of hydrogen in the UK and to Europe.
Caterpillar To Launch Demonstration Project Using Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology For Backup Power At Microsoft Data Center
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release on the Caterpillar web site.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Caterpillar Inc. today announced a three-year project through a collaboration with Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems to demonstrate a power system incorporating large-format hydrogen fuel cells to produce reliable and sustainable backup power for Microsoft data centers. The project is supported and partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the H2@Scale initiative and backed by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).
“At Caterpillar, we focus on supporting our customers with reliable, resilient and economical power solutions while achieving their climate-related goals,” said Jason Kaiser, vice president for Caterpillar’s Electric Power Division. “This hydrogen fuel cell demonstration project enables us to collaborate with industry leaders to take a large step toward commercially viable power solutions that also support our customers in making their operations more sustainable.”
It certainly looks like Caterpillar are turning to the use of hydrogen to keep their existing markets.
This press release explains the cooperation in a paragraph.
Caterpillar experts in advanced power technologies, controls and system integration are working alongside Microsoft experts in data center design and Ballard experts in fuel cell design to demonstrate a 1.5 MW backup power delivery and control system that would meet or exceed the expectations set by current diesel engine systems.
Elsewhere the press release says that Caterpillar aims to be carbon negative by 2030.
Conclusion
We will see lots of systems like this providing reliable and sustainable power systems for entities like airports, city centres, data centres, hospitals, ports, shopping malls and other large users of electricity.
Will We See Class 43 Power Cars Converted To Hydrogen?
To say that the Class 43 power cars of the InterCity 125 trains are iconic is rather an understatement.
Note.
They were built by British Rail in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
- They have an operating speed of 125 mph.
- They are now powered by a modern MTU 16V4000 R41R diesel engine after being re-engined earlier this century.
- They have an electric transmission.
According to Wikipedia, there are over a hundred and twenty in service.
At the back of the power car there is a lot of space, as this picture shows.
This press release from Rolls-Royce is entitled Rolls-Royce Launches mtu Hydrogen Solutions For Power Generation.
These are the introductory bullet points to the press release.
- From 2022 mtu Series 500 and Series 4000 ready for 25% hydrogen
- From 2023 mtu engines and conversion kits available for 100% hydrogen
And what engine is there in a Class 43 power car? – It’s an MTU 16V4000 R41R diesel engine.
Is it an mtu Series 4000 engine?
If it is, there is space in the back of the power car for the hydrogen tank and the diesel engine can be converted to run on hydrogen, Rolls-Royce have everything they need break the speed record for hydrogen-powered trains. After all power cars; 43102 and 43159 hold the diesel-train speed record at 148 mph.
It would be the ultimate Roller.
Rolls-Royce Makes Duisburg Container Terminal Climate Neutral With MTU Hydrogen Technology
The title of this post, is the same as this press release from Rolls-Royce.
This is the first sentence.
Rolls-Royce will ensure a climate-neutral energy supply at the container terminal currently under construction at the Port of Duisburg, Germany.
There is also this Rolls-Royce graphic, which shows the energy sources.
It would appear batteries, combined heat and power (CHP), grid electricity, hydrogen electrolyser, hydrogen storage and renewable electricity are being brought together to create a climate-neutral energy system.
- As the graphic was named hydrogen technology for ports, I would assume that this is a Rolls-Royce mtu system that will be deployed at more than one port around the world.
- Note the H2 CHPs in the graphic. Could these be applications for Rolls-Royce’s beer keg-sized 2.5 MW electrical generator based on a Super Hercules engine?
- One of Rolls-Royce’s small modular nuclear reactors could be ideal for a large port outside Germany.
This is the last paragraph of the press release.
“Hydrogen technology is no longer a dream of the future, but hydrogen technology will prove itself in everyday use in Duisburg. The parallel use of fuel cell solutions and hydrogen engines shows that we have taken the right path with our technology-open approach to the development of new solutions for the energy supply of the future,” says Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
Rolls-Royce mtu appear to be very serious about the possibilities of hydrogen.
Caterpillar To Offer Power Solutions Generator Operating On 100% Hydrogen To Customers In 2021
The title of this post is the same as that, of this article on Hydrogen Central.
The title says most of it, although engines will soon be offered that can run on natural gas with up to ten percent of hydrogen added.
The last part of the article described various projects being undertaken by Caterpillar with hydrogen.
It looks like Caterpillar are taking the route chosen by Cummins and JCB to embrace hydrogen, rather than fight it.
Mote – World’s First Carbon Removal Plant Converting Wood Waste To Hydrogen
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Central.
This paragraph caught my eye.
Mote is also in discussions with carbon utilization company CarbonCure Technologies on the potential of permanently storing its CO2 in concrete via CarbonCure’s carbon removal technologies, deployed in hundreds of CO2 mineralization systems at concrete plants worldwide.
So I looked up CarbonCure Technologies web site.
This page gives an overview of their technology.
According to their web site, they can add carbon dioxide to precast concrete sections. How much carbon dioxide would it have been possible to bury, if the tunnel linings for Crossrail had used CarbonCure’s technology?
New California Hydrogen Fuel Plant Will Use Wood Waste
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Hydrogen Fuel News.
- It is being developed by a company called Mote.
- They are spending $100 million on the development.
- The plant will be built at Bakersfield in California.
The Mote web site is worth a look.
It explains their process with a good graphic.
- Wood waste is gasified and processed, so that the carbon dioxide and hydrogen are separated.
- The hydrogen is used as normal.
- The carbon dioxide is stored.
The company claims the process is carbon negative.
They also give figures for their first facility.
- It will remove 150,000 tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere every year.
- It will produce twenty tonnes of hydrogen per day.
Fluor, who are one of the United States largest construction companies are involved.
Conclusion
In Can The UK Have A Capacity To Create Five GW Of Green Hydrogen?, I said the following.
Ryze Hydrogen are building the Herne Bay electrolyser.
- It will consume 23 MW of solar and wind power.
- It will produce ten tonnes of hydrogen per day.
The electrolyser will consume 552 MWh to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen, so creating one tonne of hydrogen needs 55.2 MWh of electricity.
This would mean that Mote’s Bakersfield plant is twice the size in terms of hydrogen production, than the electrolyser at Herne Bay.
Looking up Bakersfield on Wikipedia, it appears that there is a lot of agriculture in the area and it ranks in the top five in the States.
I’d like to learn more about this company and their method of hydrogen production.
Does it count as green hydrogen, as it appears the carbon dioxide is stored.
Given the agriculture in the area, could the carbon dioxide be fed to plants growing in greenhouses.
What Will Happen To Northern’s Class 195 Trains?
Northern’s Class 195 trains could be a problem in the future.
- They are diesel multiple units.
- There are twenty-five two-car trains and thirty-three three-car trains.
- All cars have a Rolls-Royce MTU 6H1800R85L diesel engine, that drives the train through a ZF EcoLife 6-speed transmission.
- They are 100 mph trains, which is adequate for the routes they serve.
- According to Wikipedia, the trains are designed for a lifespan of thirty-five years, which takes the trains past the date, when it is intended that all trains should be zero-carbon.
It looks to me, that a plan will be needed to decarbonise these trains, as they are probably too new and costly to scrap.
These are possibilities to upgrade them to zero-carbon.
Rebuild as Class 331 Electric Trains
The design of the Class 195 trains is based on the same platform as that of the Class 331 trains.
I would expect that it could be possible to rebuild the Class 195 trains as Class 331 trains.
But it would be an expensive and disruptive process and would require a lot of electrification.
Some battery-electric versions could be created to cut the need for electrification.
Run The Trains On Net-Zero Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil Or Other Fuels
In Powered By HVO, I wrote about research going on into the use of Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil or HVO.
There is also ongoing research into other net-zero fuels that can be used in a diesel engine.
The process used by Velocys to create sustainable aviation fuel can also be used to produce diesel from various sources like disposable nappies, household waste and scrap wood.
Run The Trains On A Dual Fuel Basis With Hydrogen
In Grand Central DMU To Be Used For Dual-Fuel Trial, I talk about how Grand Central in collaboration with a company called G-volution are running experiments with dual-fuelling a Class 180 train. G-volution state that they could dual fuel with hydrogen using their technology.
The Class 180 trains have Cummins engines, but I suspect G-volution’s technology or something similar could be applied to the Rolls-Royce MTU engines in the Class 195 trains.
This could be a very promising route.
Convert The Diesel Engines To Run On Hydrogen
Cummins and JCB have developed internal combustion engines, that can run on hydrogen. I would be very surprised if Rolls-Royce MTU are not developing this technology.
Conclusion
There are options to convert the Class 195 trains into low or zero-carbon trains.
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The Anonymous Widower 