Define: One problem in our ecosystem, is emission from diesel locomotives. Emissions from locomotives are warming the earth with greenhouse gases , damaging vegetation and wildlife with diesel exhaust, and polluting our water sources with diesel and petrol which sometimes drips from the locomotives.
Discover: The research I found about locomotive emissions showed that emissions from a diesel engine shoots greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, thus warming up the planet even more. As if the atmosphere didn’t have enough of it already, diesel engines produce CO2. Diesel exhaust is made up of nitrogen, sodium dioxide, heat, and toxic chemicals that damage vegetation and wildlife, and cause acid rain which goes into our water sources and our soil. One of the Canadian passenger companies, VIA rail, said that a trip from Vancouver to Toronto would make 724 kg of CO2.
Dream: Many train companies are coming up with ideas to slow down/stop climate change and to use something else besides fossil fuels:
The Canadian Pacific Railway is currently testing a locomotive that runs on a ever-lasting fuel source: Hydrogen. Hydrogen doesn’t produce the same waste as fossil fuels, instead it’s waste is water. But to have usable Hydrogen, it has to be separated from water, biomass, coal, and natural gas. Photo: CP rail’s new Hydrogen-powered locomotive.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe railway came up with a battery-electric locomotive. Having battery-electric locomotive will cut BNSF’s industry annual carbon dioxide emission by 50%, this means less emissions and less fossil fuels being used up. Photo: BNSF’s new Battery-Electric-powered locomotive.
METRA is going to buy low-emission locomotives in a few years. Photo: METRA’s future low-emission locomotives.
Debrief: I could find more info for my post. Like info about what other train companies are doing for the environment, or how the ideas above could be accomplished by the companies. The ideas that these companies came up with have down sides as well. A Hydrogen locomotive would be cool, but the problem would be loss of water. Fortunately, CP fixed the idea by reusing the water the engine uses, BNSF still has to make more battery locomotives, and METRA still has to buy its engines.
I don’t understand your interest in trains, also this is good
You did some great research and I learned a lot from this post.
A question: What state would the water have to be in to be usable for a fuel source? Would it be hot, cold, clean, or dirty?
I think that this idea could be possible. Good job!
Hi, Andrej. I really enjoyed learning about Loco Motive emissions. The pictures you added really helped me imagine what the problem was and how to solve it. Your Discover is detailed. One improvement you could make is going into more detail on your dream. Overall you did a great job Andrej.
Very good explanation of how you used the solution fluency to address an issue. Good work discovering a lot of information about your issue. You included effective media to demonstrate your findings. Good work. Consider citing your sources. What innovation could you add to what the rail companies are pursuing? What ideas do you have and what will you build?
Great job on your solution fluency post!
-You didn’t foam over KCS AC4400s.
-You chose dapper photos of already beautiful locomotives!
-You were clear about your topic.
Happy Railfanning!
-Aiden Morel (KCS)
dude trains are great!! i can’t wait to see a KCs, and when i do i’ll foam hard