Switzerland's new hybrid cargo and train maneuvering locomotives: cheaper to maintain, more energy-efficient
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A 4,000 ton annual reduction in CO2 and a significant improvement in maintenance costs: Swiss cargo trains will have 30 hybrid locomotives starting in 2013, the CFF rail company has announced.
The new engines are made by Stadler Winterthur, whose director, Hartmut Dietrich, calls them “the most modern and most innovative on the market”.
The locomotives were presented by the two companies 14 October in Winterthur.
The CFF’s traction energy consumption has remained relatively stable for the past four years, between 1,827 and 1,879 GWh.
The new engines are based on an existing model, entirely electric, used by the CFF for maneuvers with passenger trains, the Ee 922.
The new model’s (E 923) electric traction power is twice as great, but it also has a diesel motor for rail lines that have no electric contact points, which gives it far greater flexibility.
The new locomotives have a higher speed, up to 120kph, which will allow them to free the rail lines more quickly for other trains, resulting in sharply lower operating costs, says the CFF.
CFF is paying CHF88 million for the E 923 engines, some of which will be delivered in 2012, but it notes that it will lose the high maintenance cost of older locomotives, such as the Bm 4/4s, which are being retired.
Next job: upgrade energy efficiency at the UN Palais
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss federal government will give Geneva CHF54 in additional funds in 2012, the bulk of which will go to the UN Palais building for renovations to make the 1936 structure more energy efficient, Bern announced Wednesday 29 June.
“International Geneva” will also receive CHF4 million a year starting in 2012 and another CHF600,000 to cover the cost of four new jobs starting in 2013, funds designed to increase the city’s competitiveness in wooing international congresses and conferences.
The federal government also noted Wednesday that it is increasing its contribution to the rent paid by international organizations, without specifying the amount.
The Palais has 52 elevators, 5km of corridors, a very complex electrical network and several heating, ventilation and air conditioning stations.
The winner, Oerlikon Solar, declared in Geneva at the UN (photo, Zero Emissions Race)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - August 2010 to February 2011, or 80 days of travel time to tour the world using only solar energy: the Zero Emissions “race” that finished in Geneva Thursday 24 February has shown it can be done.
Four cars left the United Nations building in Geneva last 16 August, with the UN Environmental Programme waving off the drivers and providing a kind of home to return to, today.
The three vehicles that completed the race covered 28,000 kilometres and 16 countries. A fourth team had to drop out in Berlin for technical reasons.
The project was the brainchild of Switzerland’s Louis Palmer, the first person to circumnavigate the world in a solar power vehicle.
The race itself was not so much about speed as about energy efficiency. The winners were declared at the UN Palais building in Geneva Thursday:
- third place, Team Trev
- second Team Vectrix
- the winner: Team Oerlikon Solar.
Zero Emissions Race: 80 days, 28,000 km and 16 countries later, back in Geneva (photo, Zero Emissions Race)
“This prize makes Zerotracer officially the most efficient and reliable electric vehicle,” the Zero Emissions web site noted after the prize ceremony. “The teams were presented trophies made from granite and crystal from the Grimsel region of Switzerland.”
The race has spawned offspring with the public invited to join a Zero Emissions Europe race from 3-25 September 2011.
Solar Impulse, using only solar power, lands in Geneva 21 September 2010
Update 13:15 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Solar Impulse is flying again! Bertrand Piccard’s plane took off Tuesday 21 September at 08:00 from Payerne, canton Vaud and landed safely in Geneva at 12:25. If the weather holds and the control tower at Cointrin Airport gives the go-ahead, the plane is expected to leave Geneva at 15:30 and should arrive back in Payerne about 18:30. Very approximate times for plane-watchers: 16:30 over Nyon, 17:30 near Lausanne.
At 09:30 Tuesday morning the solar-propelled plane, piloted by André Borschberg, was flying over Montreux where it circled the Chillon Castle a few times.
The plane is flying at low altitude, thus easily visible to plane-watchers, and its flight path can be followed live.
The clear skies and near-perfect weather are providing a safe window for the plane, which uses only solar power.
Solar Impulse is running a photo competition, with first prize a visit to the project centre in Payerne. Photos and videos can be uploaded directly to the site, while the plane is flying.
Wednesday’s flight to Zurich
Solar Impulse will continue its Swiss day flying trials with a return flight from Payerne to Zurich Wednesday September 22nd 2010.
Depending on weather and air traffic conditions the flight schedule is:
08:00 Takeoff from Payerne, direction Zurich International Airport
13:30 Landing, Zurich International Airport
14:30 Take off from Zurich, direction Payerne
19:00 Expected landing in Payerne
Energy and CO2 emissions tightened for new cars
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The energy efficiency requirements of new cars have been updated and will come into effect for all new cars sold in Switzerland from 1 July, the Swiss Federal Office for Energy (SFOE) announced 1 February. New cars are currently rated on a scale of A to G with the most energy efficient cars getting an A rating. Energy efficiency is equated with CO2 emissions as well, and the least polluting new cars will need to emit no more than 188g of CO2 per km driven, down from 204g/km two years ago.
China will improve energy efficiency 40-45 percent by 2050, compared to 2005, Chinese officials announced 26 November, without offering any details. By improving energy efficiency, China also reduces CO2 emissions.Chinese leaders almost immediately cautioned that their energy goals were domestic, and asked the world to trust them. Xie Zhenhua, the Chinese climate policy expert who announced the goals said, “Although this is a domestic voluntary action, it is binding. As we’ve made this commitment, well, Chinese people stick to their word.”
US experts have welcomed the move, saying that China now joins other major economic powers in announcing plans for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the Copenhagen conference on climate change that opens 7 December.
Some experts warn that the Chinese will not want to be held to account, and point out the difficulties in measuring, reporting and verifying progress on those commitments.
Home, sweet (green?) home, Carouge, Geneva
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Homeowners grabbed at the chance to get energy certificates at a bargain rate, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) says, with 15,000 energy certificates sold in only three weeks following the announcement that a certificate and annexed expert report would cost only CHF200 instead of the usual CHF1,200. The cantonal building energy certificate (CECB) establishes the energy efficiency of a building and is useful as a guide to current and future energy use.
