ELECTRIFICATION FEATURE |
43
Decarbonising transport through rail electrification Sagnik Murthy, Head of Client Relationships at UK Power Networks Services, explains the emission challenge
I
n June 2019 the UK became the first country in the world to legislate a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050. It gave an added impetus to deploy more renewable and low carbon technologies to build a flexible and greener energy system. The world we live in will continue to change and evolve impacting our lives in ways never imagined before whether it is the electricity, transport or heat sector. Currently the transport sector contributes 28 per cent of the total net domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK and this sector will require transformation if the UK is to achieve its target of net zero target by 2050. People are increasingly considering the sustainability impact of their journeys from door to door. That not only means carbon offsetting their flight but hailing an electric taxi and in the future battery and hydrogen powered trains, planes flying on sustainable aviation fuels and ships and ferries powered by hydrogen, ammonia or synthetic fuels.
The Oxford Economics 2018 report shows that for every £1 spent on rail, £2.20 of income is generated in the wider economy, meaning rail is not just an important sector in its own right but it is also crucial for UK plc, its economy and connectivity. The pandemic has impacted rail passenger ridership across the UK but inherently rail is a green mode of mass transit, contributing just 2.6 per cent of GHG emissions from transport and only 0.6 per cent of total UK emissions. In the article I delve into how rail electrification will help the UK achieve significant strides towards transport decarbonisation and why we need to start thinking about our network of rail stations as multi modal transport hubs. Rail electrification With the Government’s announcement to ban all petrol and diesel engines by 2030, the rail sector must replace diesel trains with zero carbon rolling stock, for example
electric, battery or hydrogen trains. Track electrification is expensive at an average cost of £1 million per kilometre but still the best whole life option for an intensively used railway network. As of November 2020, 6,049 kilometres (38 per cent) of the mainline railway route (15,904 kilometres) was electrified in the UK. Electrification is typically measured in Single Track Kilometres (STKs). This is the absolute length of track within a route
Rail Professional
