Reducing the CO2- and energy footprint

CO2-emission is one of the most important causes of climate change and needs to be drastically reduced in the coming decades. In the Netherlands, with reference year 1990, the national targets are a reduction of 49% in 2030 and a reduction of 95% in 2050. Railway transport has relatively low emissions compared to other transport modalities.

The ambition both on national and EU level, however, is CO2-free railway transport. In the Rail Institute this will be addressed from a broader, multidisciplinary viewpoint, i.e. reducing CO2- and energy footprint. This means that not only sustainable energy sources and energy savings are considered, but also subjects like prolonging the lifetime of assets, reducing the use of materials and better planning of auxiliary services:

• Material lifetime (also relevant for the theme ‘improving asset management’)
• Minimizing material use
• Controlling friction
• Regeneration of braking energy
• Reducing peak power demand
• Energy-efficient train control
• Integration of renewable energy
• Planning of auxiliary services