Meanwhile, an Australian mining company is running battery EV locomotives.

[IronWing]

https://www.mining.com/fortescue-rolls-out-battery-trains-in-western-australia/

The company is well on its way to full solar powered operations, installing 3600 panels a day plus battery storage for 24 hour operations.

The locomotives are made in the U.S. by Caterpillar. While Republicans cling to coal, racism, and mean spirited stupidity, the world moves on.

 

[MrSquished]

I honestly don't think America will recover for decades after this MAGA movement is gone, whenever that is. Or recover at all.

On literally every front they are destroying everything that made America great - from science, research, education, to infrastructure, to energy, to economy, to international relations, to the very basic moral and human decency that was left. There is literally no major stone they have left untouched in order to tarnish, destroy, or weaken. I mean it's pretty impressive how well rounded they are in their absolute evil.

 

[brycejones]

https://www.mining.com/fortescue-rolls-out-battery-trains-in-western-australia/

The company is well on its way to full solar powered operations, installing 3600 panels a day plus battery storage for 24 hour operations.

The locomotives are made in the U.S. by Caterpillar. While Republicans cling to coal, racism, and mean spirited stupidity, the world moves on.

The GOP has destroyed the future of the American economy all in the name of combating science.

 

[nakedfrog]

I'm happy our state at least pushed back against the absurd emergency order to keep a coal-powered plant open even though state law required it to stop and the nearby coal mine was no longer in operation and they've literally been planning to shut it down for years.

Washington’s largest climate polluter shuts down despite federal order

Canadian company TransAlta’s coal-burning power plant in Centralia, Washington, shut down Dec. 19, according to grid data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

www.opb.org

 

[brycejones]

I'm happy our state at least pushed back against the absurd emergency order to keep a coal-powered plant open even though state law required it to stop and the nearby coal mine was no longer in operation and they've literally been planning to shut it down for years.

Washington’s largest climate polluter shuts down despite federal order

Canadian company TransAlta’s coal-burning power plant in Centralia, Washington, shut down Dec. 19, according to grid data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

www.opb.org

Here in Michigan we're still paying extra in our bills to keep a coal plant that we don't need operating. Meanwhile the rubes here are having constant shit fits fighting against utility scale solar installs. "Solar power is a scam".

Affordability is such a made up word.

 

[hal2kilo]

Here in Michigan we're still paying extra in our bills to keep a coal plant that we don't need operating. Meanwhile the rubes here are having constant shit fits fighting against utility scale solar installs. "Solar power is a scam".

Affordability is such a made up word.

Oh, by the way, they are lasting longer than predicted.

How long do solar panels last? New study shows it's longer than you think!

A new study of solar installations from the 1980s and ’90s found many still generating most of their original power.

electrek.co

 

[Fenixgoon]

Thats incredible.

 

[brycejones]

Oh, by the way, they are lasting longer than predicted.

How long do solar panels last? New study shows it's longer than you think!

A new study of solar installations from the 1980s and ’90s found many still generating most of their original power.

electrek.co

Yeah, around here though people keep repeating a talking point that they only generate 20% of their rated power after 5 years. Hell even the local district repeated a similar claim while approving a solar install. Something like 5-10% a year loss.

 

[Brainonska511]

The GOP has destroyed the future of the American economy all in the name of combating science.

More like "owning the libs" and defeating anything gender. Science and knowing things has become feminine-coded in their mind.

 

[Muse]

I honestly don't think America will recover for decades after this MAGA movement is gone, whenever that is. Or recover at all.

On literally every front they are destroying everything that made America great - from science, research, education, to infrastructure, to energy, to economy, to international relations, to the very basic moral and human decency that was left. There is literally no major stone they have left untouched in order to tarnish, destroy, or weaken. I mean it's pretty impressive how well rounded they are in their absolute evil.

Doing Putin's wet-dream destruction of US hegemony.

 

[nakedfrog]

More like "owning the libs" and defeating anything gender. Science and knowing things has become feminine-coded in their mind.

Watched the recent Hank Green video about why coal is dumb, and he referred to it as "discourse-ocracy", not driven by any kind of data or facts, just being anti-woke basically, driven by the discourse among MAGA.

 

[DisarmedDespot]

99% of the time battery-powered trains are stupid.

Article didn't mention it, but this one of the 1% where batteries make more sense than just electrifying the line. The ore trains do downhill fully loaded and only go back up after dropping the ore off, so they actually generate a big chunk of the power they use going back up. Honestly pretty clever!

 

[Brainonska511]

99% of the time battery-powered trains are stupid.

Article didn't mention it, but this one of the 1% where batteries make more sense than just electrifying the line. The ore trains do downhill fully loaded and only go back up after dropping the ore off, so they actually generate a big chunk of the power they use going back up. Honestly pretty clever!

I can think of a few other places they could make sense: passenger runs where you might not be able to full electrify without other substantial upgrades to extraneous infrastructure (eg, tunnels, underpasses, bridges). Batteries could allow for full line electrification, even if there are gaps that would be difficult to electrify..

But yes, overall, the rush towards battery trains is always kind of a big "why?" - just hang wires as we did generations ago.

 

[Paratus]

There’s a couple of massive 200-300 ton mining dump trucks that are solar fuel-cell / battery powered too.

• Anglo American nuGen: This 300-ton mining truck is part of a zero-emission hydrogen system that uses a 2-megawatt hybrid powerplant, drawing power from a solar farm to produce green hydrogen on-site.

 

[skyking]

I'm happy our state at least pushed back against the absurd emergency order to keep a coal-powered plant open even though state law required it to stop and the nearby coal mine was no longer in operation and they've literally been planning to shut it down for years.

Washington’s largest climate polluter shuts down despite federal order

Canadian company TransAlta’s coal-burning power plant in Centralia, Washington, shut down Dec. 19, according to grid data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

www.opb.org

I last worked out there in 2012. The old shovels were always a good sightseeing structure on plane rides.

 

[cytg111]

It only makes sense if you got precognition that nuclear winter is coming .... Shit.

 

[K1052]

I can think of a few other places they could make sense: passenger runs where you might not be able to full electrify without other substantial upgrades to extraneous infrastructure (eg, tunnels, underpasses, bridges). Batteries could allow for full line electrification, even if there are gaps that would be difficult to electrify..

But yes, overall, the rush towards battery trains is always kind of a big "why?" - just hang wires as we did generations ago.

The biggest barrier to electrification are the Class 1 railroads and an American railroading culture who does not want to practice anything but ye olde railroading. The near total resistance to change to utilize methods/technologies from abroad that literally have solved all their complaints is really impressive.

 

[Fenixgoon]

The biggest barrier to electrification are the Class 1 railroads and an American railroading culture who does not want to practice anything but ye olde railroading. The near total resistance to change to utilize methods/technologies from abroad that literally have solved all their complaints is really impressive.

But that requires capital investment. They need to maximize profit damnit!

 

[Brainonska511]

The biggest barrier to electrification are the Class 1 railroads and an American railroading culture who does not want to practice anything but ye olde railroading. The near total resistance to change to utilize methods/technologies from abroad that literally have solved all their complaints is really impressive.

For sure. But infrastructure costs in the US are also a huge barrier too (my original thought was around state organizations that control their rails, like the MBTA, who have been resistant to electrification).

 

[K1052]

For sure. But infrastructure costs in the US are also a huge barrier too (my original thought was around state organizations that control their rails, like the MBTA, who have been resistant to electrification).

The one exception is Caltrain who jumped at the chance to get at the CAHSR money and their electrification has been a huge success. Basically everybody else yea not so much even if they could have gotten federal dollars for it.