A not‐so‐green choice? The high carbon footprint of long‐distance passenger rail travel in Canada

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Katz‐Rosene
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
High Carbon ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Rail Travel

scholarly journals Better Wettability of Pandanus Utilis Alkaline Treated Fibres Tead to Higher Tensile Strengths of Composites.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent L'Entete ◽  
Hareenanden Ramasawmy
Keyword(s):  
Tensile Strength ◽  
Composite Materials ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Fibre Length ◽  
Natural Fibre ◽  
Engineering Properties ◽  
Aggressive Treatment ◽  
High Carbon ◽  
Reinforcing Agent ◽  
Internal Angle

Abstract Composite materials made with synthetic fibres like E-glass, Kevlar or carbon have helped to provide a wide array of products to society with specific engineering properties. However, these materials have a high carbon footprint as well as being non-biodegradable. The use of natural fibre, as a substitution to these man-made fibres, has been studied and encouraging results are being obtained.In this study, the use of ‘Pandanus utilis’ fibre as a reinforcing agent in plastic was investigated with the aim of exploring specific properties such as the tensile strength of the fibre, its wettability and the effect of fibre length after treating the fibre with two different NaOH solutions. Results have shown that better reinforcement was obtained for the composites (11.10 ± 2.53MPa) with fibres subjected to a more aggressive treatment (2.5%NaOH for 2h) compared to the composite made with fibres having maximum tensile strength (168 ± 12MPa at 0.5% NaOH for 14h), due to a better hydrophilicity of the alkaline treated fibre (87.37° internal angle). Within the range of short chopped fibre length tested (6 to 15 mm), it was shown that there was a general decrease in the tensile strength of the composite.

Shared Corridors, Strange Bedfellows: Understanding the Interface Between Freight and Passenger Rail

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Iacobacci
Keyword(s):  
Business Community ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
Passenger Traffic ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Commuter Rail ◽  
Transit Times ◽  
Passenger Trains

This paper aims to clarify issues regarding shared rail corridors from a public policy perspective. It presents an overview of the relationships between the main stakeholders operating trains on North America’s rail networks: the railway companies that own the rail infrastructure and use it to provide freight services to shippers, and the passenger service operators—which are primarily public agencies that pay railway companies for track access and other services required to operate commuter and intercity passenger trains. The issues at stake are of concern to the policy and business community alike, because congestion on railway lines affects commuter rail, intercity passenger trains, and long-distance freight trains. In addition to the obvious economic costs of delays or less-reliable transit times in passenger and freight rail, respectively, adverse environmental and social impacts (e.g., higher accident rates on roadways) arise if either freight or passenger traffic shifts from rail to roadways. An earlier version of this paper was published by the Conference Board of Canada in September 2010.

Perspective Directions of Logistics Activities Development of Long-Distance Railway Carriers

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
I. Procenko ◽  
D. Agafonov
Keyword(s):  
Government Support ◽  
Rail Transportation ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Financial Condition ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Managerial Decisions ◽  
Coronavirus Infection ◽  
Antitrust Regulation

Long-distance passenger rail transportation is a socially significant sector of the transport industry. The mobility of the population in the Russian Federation depends on the effective activities of transport carriers in this segment. However, every year in the system of state antitrust regulation, we can see the growing inefficiency of managerial decisions made in relation to the formed rules of the regulatory environment. This article presents an analysis of how the existing crisis in the economy caused by the spread of coronavirus infection affected the results of long-distance railway carriers activities. Given the predicted reduction in government support and economic activity, the authors conclude that it is necessary to increase the role of logistics in the financial and economic activities of transport carriers as one of the drivers for optimizing the financial condition of enterprises in the sector.

Safety of Domestic High Speed Passenger Rail Operations

2016 ◽  
pp. 124-143
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Laffey
Keyword(s):  
Systemic Risk ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Level Crossings ◽  
Right Of Way ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Rail To Rail ◽  
Rail Industry ◽  
Safety Programs ◽  
Rail Travel

This chapter examines safety related to high and higher speed inter-city passenger rail operations. Generally, most risk related to rail travel is associated with collisions between on-track equipment and vehicles and pedestrians at level crossings. A larger amount of fatalities, but not necessarily systemic risk, is due to trespassing on the rail right-of-way. A third aspect of risk related to rail operations lies in rail to rail collisions and derailments, some of which may be catastrophic. A discussion of safety programs implemented by the rail industry at national and international levels concludes the chapter.

Starch Reinforcement of Raw Earth Constructions

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Tourtelot ◽  
Chloé Fourdrin ◽  
Jean Baptiste d'Espinose de Lacaillerie ◽  
Ann Bourgès ◽  
Emmanuel Keita
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Strength ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Wheat Starch ◽  
Organic Additives ◽  
High Carbon ◽  
Compressive Test ◽  
Physicochemical Interactions ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Earthen Buildings ◽  
Raw Earth

The restoration, the protection, or the creation of earthen buildings require improving the mechanical strength of the material. The first way to do that is to use inorganic additives, but these additives change the structural properties of earth and have a high carbon footprint. In contrast, the other way to consolidate is the use of organic additives such as vegetal derivatives that rearrange the minerals in the earth, with the lowest carbon footprint as they are from waste management. After preliminary tests with ten different organic additives from traditional recipes, we found that wheat starch improves the earth strength up to 50 %. In this study, we related the mechanical strengthening to the physicochemical interactions between clays and starch. We focus on three clays that represent the three main groups of clays: kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite. For this study, we mainly focused on compressive test and rheological tests. We showed that the improvement of the mechanical strength with starch is depending on clay nature and their chemistry. Then, we can recommend formulations based on the earth nature for new sustainable buildings. Furthermore, we can understand why it was an interesting way to use starch as a strengthening agent in traditional recipes and how it could be used to repair and protect buildings made of earthen material.

scholarly journals Contested Power: American Long-Distance Passenger Rail and the Ambiguities of Energy Intensity Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Minn
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Energy Intensity ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Intensity Analysis ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Transport Mode ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Ontological Question ◽  
Analytical Approaches

This paper is a critical review of research on long-distance passenger rail energy consumption that examines the factors that affect the energy intensity of rail, the comparative energy intensity of alternative modes (auto, air and bus), and the sources of discrepancies between different published energy intensity figures. The ambiguities underlying those discrepancies point to a fundamental question about what phenomenon is being quantified in energy intensity analysis, and whether any transport mode can be said to universally have an energy intensity advantage over other modes at all times, places and scales. This ontological question may be as significant as the epistemic conflicts dominating discourses over competing studies and analytical approaches.

scholarly journals Competition For Versus In the Market of Long-Distance Passenger Rail Services

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédéric Cherbonnier ◽  
Marc Ivaldi ◽  
Catherine Muller-Vibes ◽  
Karine Van Der Straeten
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Profit Maximization ◽  
Differentiated Products ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Limit Pricing ◽  
Oligopoly Model ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Opening Up

Abstract This paper is aimed at evaluating the net gains and trade-offs at stake in implementing the competition of the rail mode in the long distance passenger market either by means of franchise or by an open access mechanism. We simulate the outcomes of competition in and for the market using a differentiated-products oligopoly model allowing for inter- and intra-modal competition in a long distance passenger market. Specifically we first calibrate the model using data describing high speed lines in France and show that the incumbent railway operator’s strategy does not simply boil down to a short-term profit maximization (e.g. because of existing regulation or limit-pricing strategy). This yields two important results when simulating competition. First, whether it is for or in the market, the opening to competition does not guarantee a decrease in prices in favor of passengers. Second, the effects of opening up to competition for the market are relatively predictable and potentially positive, while those of opening up to competition in the market remain very uncertain.

scholarly journals Development and implementation of the first domestic automobile-carrying cars for the transportation of automobiles in the passenger trains

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (5) ◽  
pp. 282-291
Author(s):  
S. L. Samoshkin ◽  
S. D. Korshunov ◽  
O. S. Samoshkin ◽  
A. G. Udel’nov ◽  
D. V. Semenov
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Dynamic Strength ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Repeated Impact ◽  
Impact Tests ◽  
Passenger Rail ◽  
Initial Batch ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
The Right

One of the activities of the JSC “FPK” is the creation of competitive advantages for passenger rail transport by formulating proposals for the provision of new services in long-distance trains. Currently, there is a need for intercity and even international transportation of automobiles for passengers traveling on long-distance trains.To resolve this issue, the JSC “FPK” developed a technical task, according to which the PKTB L JSC “RZD” designed a specialized passenger car for the transportation of automobiles in the long-distance trains. It was created on the basis of a 47D model car built in Germany, which was modernized during its overhaul.Prototype of the new car has passed a full range of tests in accordance with the requirements of the technical regulations of the Customs Union (TR CU) 001/2011 at the test center of the JSC NO “TIV”. Based on the positive results of the dynamic-strength, fireprevention, electrical and other tests, the Voronezh Car Repair Plant received from the Federal Agency for Railway Transport a certificate of compliance with the requirements of the TR CU and the right to manufacture an initial batch of cars.During impact tests, the low reliability of the standard thrustscrew fastening of the car wheels was established. In order to eliminate the noted drawback, a lock-cable mount was developed. Repeated impact tests have confirmed the effectiveness of the new wheel mounting design.Operation of the first batch of cars (8 and 5 units) showed a great demand for this type of service, especially on the directions Moscow—St. Petersburg—Moscow, Moscow—Helsinki—Moscow, Moscow—Adler—Moscow. In this regard, the issue of the development and manufacture of new cars with improved performance indicators (increasing the number of transported automobiles to 8–10 units instead of 4–5 units in the operated cars) is being worked out.

scholarly journals How scientists can reduce their carbon footprint

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Nathans ◽  
Peter Sterling
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Emission Of Greenhouse Gases

Cutting down on long-distance air travel is the best way to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by the scientific community.

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