A Review of Clean Energy Exploitation for Railway Transportation Systems and Its Enlightenment to China

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China’s rail system will become fully electrified by 2050. However, in some remote areas with a weak power grid connection, the promise of an electrified railway will be hard to achieve. By replacing conventional fuels with clean and environmentall...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 14; no. 17; p. 10740
Main Authors Teng, Jing, Li, Longkai, Jiang, Yajun, Shi, Ruifeng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2022
Subjects
Air quality management
Alternative energy sources
Carbon
Clean energy
Clean technology
Electric power grids
Electric power production
Electricity
Emissions
Energy
Energy consumption
Energy resources
Energy sources
Energy use
Environmental aspects
Exploitation
Forecasts and trends
Green market
Green technology
High speed rail
High speed trains
Hydrogen
Hydrogen as fuel
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics
Railroads
Renewable energy sources
Renewable resources
Solar energy
Solar energy industry
Sustainability
Transportation industry
Transportation systems
Trends
Turbines
Wind power
China
Beijing China
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Summary:According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China’s rail system will become fully electrified by 2050. However, in some remote areas with a weak power grid connection, the promise of an electrified railway will be hard to achieve. By replacing conventional fuels with clean and environmentally-friendly energy, overall carbon emissions would be significantly reduced, contributing to the fulfillment of the carbon-neutral commitment. This study reviews clean energy exploitation in the railway transportation system and the distribution of renewable energy sources along the railway lines of China. The evaluation results show that China has huge energy potential. In terms of photovoltaics alone, the annual power generation of China’s high-speed railway is about 170 TWh, meaning that the energy self-consistency rate for high-speed railway can reach 284.84%. Efficient exploitation of clean energy sources for China’s railway transportation system would effectively mitigate anxieties surrounding energy shortages.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su141710740