Trains That Run Like, and on, the Wind

[kristopher]

Trains That Run Like, and on, the Wind
By ERIK KIRSCHBAUM | REUTERS
Published: August 21, 2011



BERLIN — It will not be easy to run a national railroad on renewable energy like wind, hydro and solar power, but that is what Deutsche Bahn of Germany aims to do, for one simple reason: It is what consumers want.

Deutsche Bahn says it wants to raise the percentage of wind, hydro and solar energy used in powering its trains from 20 percent now to 28 percent in 2014 and to become carbon-free by 2050 — targets that exceed the German government’s already ambitious national goals.

“Consumers in Germany have made it clear they want us all to get away from nuclear energy and to more renewable energy,” said Hans-Jürgen Witschke, chief executive of Deutsche Bahn Energie, which supplies electricity for trains in Germany.

“It’s what customers want, and we’re making it happen,” Mr. Witschke said in an interview. “The demand for green electricity keeps rising each year, and that’ll continue.”

Prevailing attitudes in Germany were already decidedly green before...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/business/energy-environment/trains-that-run-like-and-on-the-wind.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1

[AmericaIsGreat]

1. We could be reading this kind of stuff about America these days

We have failed miserably.

[kristopher]

2. Don't fret; this could be compared to a leak in an earthen dam.

To the uninitiated a tiny trickle of water from the face of an earthen dam might seem like something totally inconsequential. But unless it is stopped the leak erodes the existing structure and spreads rapidly; soon resulting in a massive flow that wipes out the obstruction.

The trickle of renewable energy is fast turning into a steady stream that is verging on becoming a massive flow. We haven't led the way recently, but we will most definitely be beneficiaries of the global process.