Freight trains slowed by congestion; more investment needed to expand rail system

(Photo of freight train from Flickr and photographer mre770/Bill Wooten)

News Update 3: Getting freight off the highways and onto trains would be good for the environment. But rail industry leaders are saying there already is too much freight congestion on the nation’s 140,000 miles of track and the system is strained, with freight cars sitting for hours because of one-track lines. At a recent Congressional hearing on rail congestion, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said, “The amount of money invested nationally is pathetic.” In Chicago, the country’s rail hub, trains sometimes are sidelined for as long as 36 hours, according to Jason Breslow on Medill Reports. Freight traffic is expected to nearly double in the next 2 decades, and that is without a nationwide effort to make more use of rails to cut carbon emissions. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates expansion would cost $148 billion over 3 decades, most of it paid by the rail companies. (Sources: Greenwire, Medill Reports)

Freight trains on a roll -- guess why?

(Photo of freight train in California from Flickr and photographer Michael Patrick)

News Update: Railroad companies are investing more in infrastructure, in large part to carry Asian imports from U.S. ports to major cities. Since 2000, some $10 million has gone into expanding and improving tracks, and buying locomotives, with another $12 million planned. With the high price of gasoline and concerns about carbon emissions, railroads are competing successfully with truckers because they use one-third less fuel. “We’re finally making money and can put it into infrastructure,” the CEO of Norfolk Southern said. No mention of high-speed rail, though. (Source: Greenwire)

New report touts efficiency as best way to cut energy demand
The most economical way to cut growing energy demand and reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to get more productivity from energy, says a report from the McKinsey Global Institute, released last week. Until now, the emphasis has been on increasing supply. The report “identified huge opportunities to reduce energy demand and carbon emissions through efficiency,” Diana Farrel, director of the Institute told Reuters. Squeezing waste out of industry and cars could cut the growth of demand in half from its current 2.2% a year. It would require an initial investment of $170 billion a year, but would pay for itself in savings, the report said. (Reuters PlanetArk)

Nuclear developers drawn to South, despite energy surplus there
Fifteen of the 21 filings for new reactors before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are for sites in the south, despite the fact that many natural gas power plants there are idle much of the year. Attracted by the prospect of future growth, and possible state incentives above and beyond generous federal tax credits, the utilities are ignoring the fact that existing plants can meet the region’s needs for the next 20 years, critics say. There’s also the issue of cost overruns. Entergy’s Mississippi customers are still paying $12 a month for overruns at a 20-year-old plant. Utilities don’t like the high, and fluctuating, cost of natural gas, but the price of nuclear reactors has skyrocket 200% since 2000, according to Cambridge Energy Research Associates. (Source: PlanetArk)

Envirocab hybrid taxi company rolls out in Arlington, Va.
A taxi company that bills itself as “carbon negative” has started with 15 hybrid vehicles in the Washington, D.C., metro area. It will buy offsets from Carbonfund.com to counteract the emissions it does release -- and then some. The company aims to have 50 hybrid Priuses, Camrys, Escapes and Highlanders on the street by the end of March. The cabs will help Arlington County meet its goal of reducing GHG 10% by 2012. The county also bought Priuses for one-third of its fleet. (Source: Associated Press)

Etc.: Dirty tar sands crude is expected to raise global warming emissions from Midwest refineries 40% in the next decade … Colorado's Xcel Energy says it will double renewable energy by 2015 and close 2 coal-fired power plants … owners of gas-guzzlers will have to pay $50 to drive them into central London … a Dutch tax on fuel-inefficient cars would add a whopping $28,000 to the price of a Hummer … hunters and fishermen support the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill and other global warming proposals that give money for wildlife protection.