hydrogen fuel cells
THE H FACTOR First steam. Then electric. Then diesel. Then batteries. Next: Hydrogen fuel cells? anada’s railroads were the last to dieselize in 1960 when CN retired its whitetrimmed, coal-burning Northerns and Canadian Pacific its grey-and-maroon, oil-burning Selkirks. Redemptively, Canada will be first in the decarbonization of today’s f leet of heavy-haul road locomotives. In a grand, clean energy strategy published in mid-December, a brain trust of cross-sector Canadian savants predicted that hydrogen-powered locomotion—already nicknamed “hydrail”—would be ready for testing some time about 2025, first in the form of yard switchers, short-leashed to their refueling stations. The very next day, Dec. 18, Canadian Pacific (CP) smashed that timeline, and woke the North American rail industry.
28 Railway Age // February 2021
At the direction of Railway Age 2021 Railroader of the Year CEO Keith Creel, CP revealed it would pull the diesel engine and traction alternator from of one of its road units, and replace them with an array of hydrogen fuel cells and a companion battery. Most of the rest of the modern locomotive will remain unchanged, including its six traction motors and digital power controls. “This is a globally significant project that positions CP at the leading edge of decarbonizing the freight transportation sector,” said Creel. CP’s audacious decision to leapfrog the expected transition path was a well-kept secret, even from the railway’s peers on the federally sponsored strategy group. It caught competing carriers by surprise. The transformation of existing locomotives from diesel-electric to
hydrogen-electric will be the story line for North American power through the 2020s, just as the dominant theme of the 1950s was the transition from steam to diesel-electric. Soon enough, a locomotive’s life cycle will include decision points in which rebuilding a worn diesel engine will be weighed against replacing it with drop-in fuel-cell modules. For railroaders, like most everyone else, the hydrogen age has dawned. A spontaneous consensus emerged in 2020 that massive public and private investment will be needed to reboot Western economies after the disruption of COVID-19. That neatly coincided with the raging forces of hurricanes, wildfires and Greta Thunberg. Together, they mobilized consumers, investors, governments and captains of industry against degradation of the atmosphere. Freight railwayage.com
Alstom
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BY DAVID THOMAS, CANADIAN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
