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Major Freight Railroads Join EPA SmartWay Transport Partnership

All seven major freight railroads have joined EPA’s voluntary SmartWay Transport Partnership to increase energy efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. These Class 1 freight railroads transport more than 90 percent of all domestic rail freight. Each railroad has committed to evaluate the environmental impacts of its operations and work jointly with EPA to develop and implement a plan to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions over the next several years. The seven railroads are BNSF Railway Company, Canadian National Railway Company, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Union Pacific Railroad. As part of the SmartWay Transport Partnership, each railroad will develop a plan to identify fuel savings and emission reduction strategies. Strategies include reducing idling, improving aerodynamics, applying new fuel-saving technologies, and installing emissions control devices. Launched in February 2004, the SmartWay Transport Partnership aims to reduce, by 2012, between 33 and 66 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, as much as 200,000 tons of nitrogen oxides emissions per year, and achieve fuel savings of up to 150 million barrels of fuel per year. The program includes major freight shippers, trucking companies, railroads, and logistics companies to […]

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Nanodynamics Gets US$2 Million Grant

The Buffalo News reports that NanoDynamics, a nanotechnology company located there, has received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Government to develop a methane gas fuel cell. The grant comes from an energy and water appropriations bill in the House of Representatives, and will help NanoDynamics develop a fuel cell to keep water treatment plants running in the case of a power outage. Methane gas, the cell’s power source, is a common waste product of water treatment plants. “This gives us the opportunity to accelerate the programs we’re on and to get into methane,” NanoDynamics President Richard Berger said.

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