How many solar panels or wind turbines would it take to power an EMU?

no a way to harness all the air, hot or otherwise , that's being generated

 

How does this unit move on a dark windless evening

 

Keep up at the back!

Once it rolls down the slope away from the platform, the turbine starts running, generating the power.

 

or if on the flat, the unit uses 3rd rail to spin up the turbine ,or batteries that in turn are then re charged by the power generated see, resistance is futile

 

Sadly, I think resistance may be the subtle flaw we have all forgotten ...

Ohm

 

I believe, rather than bother with complicated mods to the internals of the class 47, an alternative arrangement, to make a class 47 move a four car EMU is in the form of a three link or screw coupling - a comparatively recent invention, that only predates both items by around 100 years...

 

This can only end with mankind being sucked into a rip in the space/time continuum....

 

I take it that Dr Who has made it to Oz.

 

You could also do the same with a class 47 + kettle; it'd save on those long, complicated and expensive boiler overhauls...

 

Overkill just for a cup of tea, isn't it?

Tom

 

#A colleagues fag-packet calculation in the Selhurst depot technical office some years ago, recconed that if the BML had solar panels in the 4ft from London to Brighton, then that would generate enough power to run 1 unit at line speed over that distance.

 

Need a wind farm like this one Martin :-

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/160/san_gorgonio_wind_farm_produces_893_gwh.html

Unbelievable sight.

 

This may be tangential, but of course many electrified railways have been and are powered by hydroelectric generation, including Norway, Germany, etc. This is renewable and fossil-fuel free although not zero carbon.
There are countries which have operated for a short time (I.e. a day or so) on only renewable energy, including Portugal and Costa Rica. The former has electric railways which must therefore have been green powered: the latter did have electric trains, but took the wires down a while back.

 

This only has a limited supply of water and was designed to cover high demand like mornings and evenings, pumping back water overnight when the sun is not so bright over UK.
They actually use diesel generators and gas turbines (with no heat recovery as this takes too many hours to heat up, like a steam engine boiler). This is the crazy thing about solar and wind energy, they do cause carbon dioxide emissions and depending on the weather can be higher than an efficient gas turbine (with heat recovery and steam turbine). There has been a significant increase in small diesel engine generators spread across the country.

 

We had the HS2 Roadshow here a few years ago. I posed the question that with regular power stations being shut down, as to where they were going to get the electricity to power their trains from. Answer - "Not our problem."

 

So, when the train glides to a halt, due to nothing to power it, what happens then? to my way of thinking, power generation should be duel mode, from a land supply, for boost and self generated, from with in the unit its self, either by kinetic energy, ie using its own momentum, or by stored energy, or both, can modern materials be given solar absorbing coatings, or be made from lightweight composites, can turbine technology be miniaturized so it can be incorporated into a railway vehicle, without impacting on its passenger accommodation, or by having duel mode locomotives, that can run on any line, either with ac, or DC , Overhead, or third rail but also is not completely tied to an outside source to generate the power it needs either by having battery or a small diesel engine to wind up a set of turbines .

 

Isn't that how they work?