Sorry to be a buzzkill but ~70% of India’s electricity is coming from coal powerplants. They are working on using nuclear and renewable but still currently it is mostly coal.
Electrification is always the first step to sustainability (at least from the efficiency approach to sustainability, post growth approaches should always come first)
You can’t put clean energy into a diesel engine, to switch any electric system over from fossil electricity to clean electricity is much easier and most importantly can be done in increments making it easier to get going on such shifts.
I’m not sure about efficiency of oil engines vs electric engines but at least infrastructure is already available and once India switches to nuclear/renewable it’ll help massively…
Coal fired plants are more energy and heat efficient than internal combustion engines on trains. Waste heat can be used for industrial areas. Also the pollution is localized and heavy duty filters can be installed, while the train can not carry heavy filters without worse transport efficiency.
Sorry to be a buzzkill but ~70% of India’s electricity is coming from coal powerplants. They are working on using nuclear and renewable but still currently it is mostly coal.
Electrification is always the first step to sustainability (at least from the efficiency approach to sustainability, post growth approaches should always come first) You can’t put clean energy into a diesel engine, to switch any electric system over from fossil electricity to clean electricity is much easier and most importantly can be done in increments making it easier to get going on such shifts.
Might still be better for the environment overall than running trains on oil. I don’t know if any study exists on the topic.
I’m not sure about efficiency of oil engines vs electric engines but at least infrastructure is already available and once India switches to nuclear/renewable it’ll help massively…
Coal fired plants are more energy and heat efficient than internal combustion engines on trains. Waste heat can be used for industrial areas. Also the pollution is localized and heavy duty filters can be installed, while the train can not carry heavy filters without worse transport efficiency.