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Sweden Tests World's First Electric Road For Trucks (inhabitat.com)
Kristine Lofgren writes: Electric vehicles are cool, but for industrial vehicles it can be a challenge to get very far on just electric power. That's why Sweden is testing out an electric road where e-vehicles can jump on, get juiced while they travel, and get back on the road. The country just opened a two kilometer test stretch in Sandviken on the E16 where electric vehicles can connect to an overhead system that is very similar to light rail. It's another exciting step towards a fossil fuel-free Sweden. Trucks can use the electric power while riding on the special electric road system -- on regular roads they operate as hybrid vehicles. The testing is scheduled to take place until 2018, which should give the country enough time to see how the technology functions in the real world. Sweden's energy and sustainable growth agencies will fund the project in addition to the transport administration.
Actually I have been wondering for a long time why trains don't do exactly what these trucks are doing. Many (most?) trains now (at least around here in the US) are deisel-electric with a deisel engine running an on-board generator to make electricity for the wheels. If you had retractable electrical things on the top of the engine to connect to overhead wires you could use grid electricity for the steep grades and other fuel demanding portions of the trip (like the first couple miles out of major rail yards where you are still getting up to speed) and then spin up the diesel as you get into the long stretches of mainline where you only need to overcome air and rolling resistance which are both minimal for a train.
In addition to this you could do regenerative breaking on these same stretches of tracks to feed power back into the grid when slowing down. Many locomotives already use electrical generators in the wheels (basically just using the motors as generators) as this avoids wear on the wheels and brakes by avoiding the older mechanical brakes. However on long down grades they still have to use the mechanical brakes since they have no way to get rid of the excess energy; the electrical generator brakes just heat up an onboard tank of water which can only take so much heating before they have to fall back to the mechanical brakes.
So basically all of the things you need to do a hybrid system like this are already onboard a modern locomotive, the only thing missing is the wires above the tracks and the thing on top of the locomotive to connect to them. The thing on top would be a very small cost to add, the wires would be a lot more expensive per mile, however you can choose which sections of rail to electrify since you are going for a hybrid approach which lets you only electrify the most beneficial parts of the rail network.
Overall I think it is a very good idea and I am surprised I have not seen it implemented or at least discussed. Maybe I am missing something but it seems like it would work well. I guess the main issue would be the large power surge to the grid from regenerative braking and the huge temporary draw when getting up to speed but it seems like this would be addressable without too much difficulty.
Actually, no they are not, you are forgetting about a few factors including:
transmission losses
infrastructure loads required to delivery that much power to a significant percentage of the roading system
infrastructure loads required to add enough generation capacity to power the additional power draw
I refer to infrastructure loads here specifically because too often people hide behind infrastructure 'costs', but the cost is not pixie dust, it is much much more than that, it is its own mountain of pollution, waste, environmental damage, financial hurt, and bureaucracy that any such transformational change requires - your gains have to exceed that before you even gain anything.
I also wonder why you think the cost of wind generation is dropping - it is not as if building large structures is magically getting cheaper, and generators have been a well known science running at close to maximum efficiency for a long, long time. Base costs of wind generation stabilized quite a lot time ago.
Direct solar electric is dropping due to both efficiency gains and manufacturing scaling, but it needs to, it is still quite high.
If you want any significant growth in electric transportation, the ONLY viable power source is nuclear - is that a pill you are willing to swallow?
I am , but I seem to be in a very clear minority on that.
Sorry to shoot down your rainbow unicorns, but the real world needs real solutions, not simplistic hand waving magic solutions.
Actually, no they are not, you are forgetting about a few factors including: ....... the USA. I suggest to read up on transmission losses, DC versus AC and voltage versus amperes to get a clue how power transportation works.
transmission losses
Transmission losses are neglectible. Every advanced nation has an electric grid for its trains, except
If you want any significant growth in electric transportation, the ONLY viable power source is nuclear - is that a pill you are willing to swallow?
... so your argument is moot.
Wind and solar are cheaper
I also wonder why you think the cost of wind generation is dropping
Because it is?
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.