Gelion Claims Zinc-Bromine Gel Batteries Will Replace Lithium-Ion
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on RideApart.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Battery technologies are evolving at a rapid pace—and for good reasons. With the automotive world moving toward electrification, companies need to find solutions for producing electric vehicles on a massive scale. While lithium-ion battery technology rules the roost today, that isn’t stopping firms from developing the next big leap forward.
From solid-state power units to structural batteries to sci-fi-worthy quantum batteries, there’s no shortage of ideas and concepts. However, the Australian company Gelion Technologies believes it found a more affordable and durable approach with its zinc-bromine gel battery. Unlike lithium-ion units, the material found in Gelion’s design isn’t rare, expensive, or potentially flammable.
It’s yet another development coming out of Australia.
‘Upgrade East Coast Main Line Before HS2’ If Leeds And Yorkshire Want Faster Rail Links To London
The title of this post, is the same as that of this letter to the Yorkshire Post.
This is the opening paragraph.
The decision to scrap HS2 running to Leeds is controversial but those who travel to London should not despair.
The writer makes these points.
- High Speed Two will probably charge a premium fare because of the speed.
- The current journey time to the capital is two hours 13 minutes at a cost of £28-60, if purchased in advance.
- Planned improvements on the East Coast Main Line will reduce the journey time to London King’s Cross to one hour 56 minutes.
- High Speed Two will take one hour 22 minutes.
- If the line between Doncaster and Leeds were to be improved, the journey time could be reduced to one hour 45 minutes.
The writer finishes by saying that if the government ‘four tracked’ the entire East Coast route, 140mph LNER’s Azuma trains would match the times of High Speed Two.
In What Will Be The Fastest Times Possible Between London King’s Cross And Leeds?, I came to this conclusion.
It looks like a non-stop service between London and Leeds running at 140 mph, with perhaps some sections at perhaps a bit faster, could be able to match the High Speed Two times.
Running non-stop saves a total of eighteen minutes.
In an hour, I would give Leeds one non-stop and one stopping service to London.
Fortescue Future Industries And Airbus Join Forces To Help Decarbonise Aviation
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Fortescue Future Industries.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Global green hydrogen company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Airbus, a world leader in aeronautics, have joined forces to create a working alliance to help enable the aviation industry to decarbonise through zero-emissions green hydrogen.
Today’s announcement reflects FFI’s and Airbus’ shared ambition to leverage their respective expertise to support the entry-into-service of a green hydrogen-based aircraft by 2035. Green hydrogen, unlike other forms of hydrogen, is made from water using 100 per cent renewable electricity.
I think this is a smart move by Airbus.
It could be argued that hydrogen trucks, buses, cars, vans and other road vehicles have not taken off at a great rate due to the lack of hydrogen filling stations.
Hydrogen airliners travelling on typical routes will probably need refuelling at both ends of the route and possibly several times per day, so hydrogen refuelling would be an important part of any deal Airbus signs with an airline.
Fortescue Future Industries seem to be in prime position to be the first global hydrogen company, so they must be the ideal hydrogen fuelling partner.
I don’t think anybody predicted, when Airbus published the possible designs of their concepts for hydrogen-powered aircraft in September 2020, that I wrote about in ZEROe – Towards The World’s First Zero-Emission Commercial Aircraft, that an Australian company would be likely to provide the hydrogen fuel for these aircraft.
Will Rail Baltica Annoy Putin?
Rail Baltica is described like this in Wikipedia.
Rail Baltica (also known as Rail Baltic in Estonia) is an ongoing greenfield railway infrastructure project to link Finland (via ferry or an undersea tunnel), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania with Poland and through this with the European standard gauge rail line network. Its purpose is to provide passenger and freight service between participating countries and improve rail connections between Central and Northern Europe, specifically the area in the Southeast of the Baltic sea. Furthermore, it is intended to be a catalyst for building the economic corridor in Northeastern Europe. The project envisages a continuous rail link from Tallinn (Estonia) to Warsaw (Poland). It consists of links via Riga (Latvia), Kaunas and Vilnius (Lithuania). Rail Baltica is one of the priority projects of the European Union.
These are a few more details.
- It will be a double-track railway or four tracks if it handles freight.
- Passenger trains will run at up to 250 kph (155 mph)
- Electrification will be either 25 KVAC or 3 KVDC overhead.
- It will be a standard gauge line.
- There will be no level crossings.
- It is planned to open around 2026.
The biggest problem could be that some of the route is shared with the Russian gauge line, that connect Kaliningrad to Vilnius and then from there to the main part of Russia.
This map from OpenRailwayMap shows the railways between Kaliningrad and Vilnius.
Note.
- The orange lines are main lines.
- The yellow lines are secondary lines.
- The orange line going West goes to Kaliningrad.
- The dark grey line crossing the railway is the border of the Kaliningrad enclave, which was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945.
- The orange line going South goes to Bialystok, Warsaw and all places to the West.
- The loop in the line is at Kaunus, where there will be an interchange between the two lines.
- The orange lines going East go to Vilnius.
- The dotted red line in the North-East corner of the map, will be new track for Rail Baltica.
The new railway will effectively squeeze itself between Kaliningrad and Kaunus.
Railway Gauges In Poland and the Baltic States
Consider.
- Most, if not all of the railways in the Baltic States are Russian gauge.
- The line between Kaliningrad and Kaunus is Russian gauge.
- Most of the railway lines in Poland are standard gauge.
- The EU likes all new high speed lines like Rail Baltica to be built to standard gauge and have 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- Kaunus is in Lithuania, so NATO control access to Kaliningrad in sensitive times.
I can’t believe that Vlad likes the current situation and would probably prefer Rail Baltica to be built to Russian gauge, as it would enable the Russian Army to easily move tanks into the Baltic States.
Conclusion
There’s a chance that Vlad will make trouble.
The Flying Scotswoman
I didn’t know there was a Flying Scotswoman, until I saw this InterCity 225 train, at King’s Cross station, this morning.
She was actually leaving for Leeds.
Polish Industry Calls For ’Full And Complete’ Sanctions On Russian And Belarusian Railways
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette.
This is the introductory paragraph.
Representatives of the Polish railway industry have issued a joint call for the European Commission to impose ‘full and complete’ sanctions on the Russian and Belarusian railways because of their logistical role in the invasion of Ukraine.
Sounds fine by me!
EMR Refine Its All Day Complimentary Food Menu For First Class Customers
The title of this post, is the same as that as this press release from East Midlands Railway.
This is the details.
East Midlands Railway (EMR) has refined it’s all day complimentary food menu for its First Class Intercity customers, offering a range of options – no matter what time they choose to travel.
The changes will mean, instead of a small number of services offering complimentary food in the morning, the company will now offer a range of free food and drink items on all its longer distance Intercity services, all day, Monday to Saturday, with plans to extend the offer to Sundays in the future.
Customers travelling First Class during the morning will now be able to choose a hot complimentary bacon or sausage ciabatta, porridge, or a vegan breakfast burrito. While in the afternoon, they will be offered a chilled sandwich, wrap or salad, or the choice of a gluten free meal or vegan option.
Next time, I go to Nottingham, I’ll go First.
106 Solaris Zero Emission Buses Headed To ÖBB Postbus’ Fleet In Austria
The title of this post, is the same as that as this article on Sustainable Bus.
This is the body of the story.
Up to 106 zero emission buses are headed to Austria, where ÖBB Postbus is going to deploy them starting from 2022 – 2025. Solaris has signed another framework agreement with the Austrian bus company Österreichische Postbus AG. It stipulates a possibility to deliver up to 106 battery-electric and hydrogen buses that would be deployed throughout Austria. The models offered include Urbino 9 LE electric and Urbino 12 hydrogen buses.
Solaris Bus and Coach is a Polish company, that is a subsidiary of CAF.
Mayor Announces Proposals For London-Wide Pollution Charge
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
These paragraphs explain the changes.
The mayor of London has announced plans to extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across the whole of London.
Under the current scheme, drivers of older, more polluting vehicles are being charged to enter London’s north and south-circular orbital roads.
New proposals will see the scheme extend to the edges of London’s boroughs in 2023.
I believe in this, as in many things, that the carrot is more powerful than the stick.
So we need to encourage people to change to electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles.
- There are not enough electric charging points.
- There are not enough hydrogen filling stations.
- Installing and building more might encourage people to go zero-carbon.
But surely, the biggest drop in pollution would come from encouraging large London-based fleets of trucks to go zero-carbon. These would include.
- Refuse trucks.
- Cement trucks.
- Skip trucks.
- Large trucks used to transport aggregates and spoil from building sites.
It is unlikely, that many of these will ever be electric. The batteries would be just too heavy.
But many will go hydrogen or dual fuel, where they can use diesel and hydrogen.
I think there are various measures that would encourage the companies running these trucks to switch to hydrogen.
- Following Birmingham, which has bought a few hydrogen buses and installed an electrolyser to provide their hydrogen fuel, which will be available to all users.
- Once there is a good network of hydrogen stations, this might encourage owners of fleets of trucks to convert to hydrogen.
- Once owners of taxis and Chelsea tractors, see lots of trucks and buses running on hydrogen, would they switch?
If I was the Mayor, I would offer a Mayor’s Prize to the company or borough, that has done most to cut pollution and/or carbon emissions.
Some mayors would enjoy giving out that prize.
Greater Manchester Leaders Now Want Clean Air Zone Charges Scrapped On ALL Vehicles After Huge Backlash
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the Manchester Evening News.
This is the first two paragraphs.
No vehicles should be charged in the new Clean Air Zone (CAZ), Greater Manchester leaders have agreed, as the scheme remains under review.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called for a ‘non-charging’ scheme which would help fund vehicle upgrades.
How can a non-charging scheme help to fund vehicle upgrades?
I suppose that Burnham wants the Government to pay for updating all the vehicles that Mancunians might drive in the Clean Air Zone.
The Anonymous Widower 