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- Trains and "Peak Oil" in Oklahoma
There are many reasons why trains should play a greater role in
Oklahoma's transportation system. But one which is of growing
importance is rail's relative energy efficiency. There are some who
believe we are about to enter a new energy paradigm. One where
petroleum liquid fuels begins to decline in availability even as demand
skyrockets.
- Ask yourself, what would life be like in
Oklahoma if fuel cost five, seven, or even
ten dollars a gallon? Could you afford to
get to work or to school? Is our public
transportation sufficient for you to
continue to have some freedom to get
around? Would a long driving trip or air
travel even be possible?
The Oklahoma Passenger Rail Association believes that expansion and
modernization of our rail system is an essential step in addressing the
energy crisis popularly known as Peak Oil. Worldwide, passenger and
freight rail are more frugal users of fossil fuel than cars, trucks, or
aviation. In addition, trains can be fully electrified to make use of more
abundant and domestic clean coal, nuclear, and renewable power. Trains
and transit encourage more sustainable forms of land use and
development.
Test your knowledge. Take the Peak Oil Quiz!
Graphs Courtesy of the The Oil Drum.
Projected oil exports through 2020.
(July 2, 2006) Worldwide liquid petroleum production. The plateau
- continues. Click here for more information.
This graph demonstrates that US petroleum consumption is
rather inelastic in relation to price. That is that prices have to
get fairly high before demand begins to stop
growing.
Peak Oil Primers
Comparing passenger rail's energy efficiency potential
Amtrak's General Electric GENESIS SERIES locomotives consume about 3
gallons per mile. Pulling seven Superliner coaches carrying 300-500
passengers the train achieves 100-165 passenger miles per gallon.
Colorado Rail Car's three unit DMU train carrying 180-290 passengers
gets 270-435 passenger miles per gallon. A four occupant mid size
automobile get 120 passenger miles per gallon. A similarly loaded
motorcoach gets 240 passenger miles per gallon.
Today in America, intercity buses achieve greater fuel efficiency than
Amtrak. But it is kind of an apples vs oranges situation.
For a bus to match the personal space of an Amtrak train, the seating
density would have to dramatically reduced, with an accompanying
reduction in energy efficiency. Most motorcoaches seat about 55
passengers in a tight four abreast arrangement with about 30" of pitch.
To compare, Amtrak Superliner and Amfleet II rail cars have wide seats
with 48" of pitch.
Amtrak could reconfigure its coach fleet to match the bus standard. That
would mean 5 abreast seating (like Japan National Railways and
Maryland's MARC commuter cars) with about 32" of pitch. And all lounge
and dining space would be eliminated. Amtrak could probably then
exceed bus energy efficiency. But what do you think the market reaction
would be?
This is about what is versus what can be.
Fuel efficiency had not been a priority for Amtrak until the David Gunn era
(2002-2005). In fact, fuel efficiency decreased during the mail and
express initiative as higher horsepower was assigned to trains in order to
pull freight cars and RoadRailers. Of course that freight and mail
removed energy consuming trucks from the highways.
In order to promote efficiency, Mr. Gunn mandated a general reduction in
the assignment of locomotives per train. For example, the Texas Eagle is
probably dramatically more fuel efficient now with one locomotive instead
of two.
Oklahoma's Heartland Flyer is probably overpowered by 300-600%
depending on whether it has the slug or a second locomotive at one end.
For all the raw power those big General Electric units are capable of
developing, it can't translate into particularly rapid acceleration. And the
floor plans of the lower level of all the Heartland Flyer cars is inefficient for
a short/medium haul train.
The point is that there is room for improvements in fuel economy. Look
for new equipment to be more efficient. Like the Colorado Rail Car Diesel
Multiple Units (DMU). Also, General Electric has two programs under
development to improve passenger locomotive efficiency. One is the
EVOLUTION SERIES product line. A freight version is already in service.
The passenger version is being readied for production. These are
supposed to be 20% more efficient than existing models. Also, GE is
building a hybrid locomotive that stores the dynamic braking energy in a
new bank of batteries instead of dissipating it in the form of waste heat as
is now the case. That power would then be available for rapid acceleration
and pulling grades.
Peak Oil is mainly about the coming drop in production of liquid
transportation fuels (LTFs). Remember, rail can and does run very well on
electricity strung from overhead line or in some cases third rail. The
electric generation situation is much more hopeful because it can be
generated from renewable sources as well as from more abundant
domestic coal and nuclear technology.
- International Energy Agency: World is not on course for a
sustainable energy future
The IEA, the energy watchdog for 26 industrialised countries including the
Ireland (and the United States), says that its Energy Technology
Perspectives: Scenarios & Strategies to 2050 report, which is published
today, is in response to the Group of Eight (G8) leaders at their
Gleneagles Summit in July 2005, and to the International Energy Agency's
Energy Ministers, who called for the IEA to develop and advise on
alternative scenarios and strategies aimed at a clean, clever and
competitive energy future.
- The IEA says that oil prices at historical highs raise concerns about the
long-term balance of supply and demand. “Improved energy efficiency is
an indispensable component of any policy mix”, said Mr. Mandil, “and it is
available immediately”. Accelerating energy efficiency improvements
alone can reduce the world’s energy demand in 2050 by an amount
equivalent to almost half of today’s global energy consumption. To
achieve this, however, “governments, in both OECD and non-OECD
countries, must be willing to implement measures that encourage the
investment in energy-efficient technologies“, Mr. Mandil added. Claude
Mandil is executive director of the IEA. (Finfacts Ireland-June 22, 2006)
Petroleum Geologist Jeffrey
Brown warns about the coming
peak in world oil production and
suggests developing more rail
transit and making changes to
the tax laws to prepare for it in
this June 11, 2006 Dallas
Morning News guest column.
Crude - The Incredible
Journey of Oil
May 2007
Listen to this March 15th, 2006
CNN interview with Congressman
Roscoe Bartlett (R) MD
discussing the reality of peak oil.
4:40 min
Audio Coutesy of Global Public Media.
Listen to this radio news
interview with Houston
energy banker and
presidential energy advisor
Matthew Simmons, of
Simmons & Company
International. Simmons is
one of the foremost
authorities on Peak Oil.
About 39 min
Audio Coutesy of Global Public Media.
Congressman Roscoe
Bartlett's floor speech on
peak oil.
About 60 min
Video courtesy of Energy Bulletin.
Sponsors of the The Oil
Drum, respond to the
political posturing in
Washington over high pump
prices.
An excellent read. Click here.
The Daily Oklahoman
Recognizes Peak Oil!
"...when peak
production of oil is in
the foreseeable future
and the United States
and the world must be
looking for the
next-generation of
energy sources, it's the
president's job."
Irish news documentary
explaining peak oil.
June 2007
Newhour's Jim Puplava
interviews Matthew
Simmons. Click here to
listen.
threat of Peak Oil.
Click here for the
article @
ResourceInvestor.com.
Gas Crisis Should Fuel
Amtrak Funding
Click here to read editorial.
Start Your Engines
Investor's Business Daily
that is acknowledging we have a
problem. Watch these ad spots.
Timeline
Manhole
Two barrels
Strollers Five countries
Untapped
the concept of peak oil.
About 2 min
Minneapolis/Saint Paul has
been running a series called
Project Energy. Lots of good
information relating to peak
oil.
Central's The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart. A
lighthearted but informative
review of the book A
Thousand Barrels A Second.
About a serious topic, the
peaking of global oil
production.
- About 7 min
Today, we can move a ton
of freight an average of
410 miles on just one
gallon of diesel fuel.
Mileage like this keeps
America's economy moving.
Norfolk Southern Railway
Former U.S. president Bill
Clinton has urged newspaper
editors to focus more attention
on the depletion of the
world’s oil reserves. In a
June 17 speech to the
Association of Alternative
Newsweeklies convention in
Little Rock, Arkansas, Clinton
said a “significant number of
petroleum geologists” have
warned that the world could be
nearing the peak in oil
production. Clinton suggested
that at current consumption
rates (now more than 30 billion
barrels per year, according to
the International Energy
Agency), the world could be out
of “recoverable oil” in 35 to 50
years, elevating the risk of
“resource-based wars of all
kinds”.
STRAIGHT.COM
Chicago Tribune editorial
recognizes challenges of
scarce energy for our future.
Atlanta Journal Constitution
article raises concerns about
Saudi Arabia's ability to
continue to meet world's
petroleum needs.
article on the challenges
industry faces finding oil today.
