Sleepers are an important component of the rails. They are used to fix the positions of the rails and to distribute the weight of the rails evenly. In the past, sleepers were made of wood and in recent years different materials were used. For example, Italian startup Greenrail uses waste materials Made of sleepers, but also the integration of solar energy systems, power grids and train stations.
Greenrail is funded by the European Union in the hope of improving green energy competitiveness in Italy by replacing green sleepers, which today are mostly made of concrete that consumes a lot of energy and Greenrail's sleepers make use of rubber and urban recycling of discarded tires Plastic, the shell is covered with an elastic layer that reduces rail pressure settling pressure, reduces maintenance costs by 2 to 2.5 times, and reduces the number of sleepers to replace, saving 35 tonnes of waste material per km of track .
The sleepers can also be powered by solar panels that convert from normal sleepers into solar-powered batteries or Kinetic Energy systems that generate electricity as the train travels and are expected to generate 150kwh of electricity per kilometer. To improve railway safety, Security and debugging data can also be transmitted via Greenrail Linkbox.
The idea was not good initially, and when Giovanni De Lisi, the founder, set up the company in 2012, the chemists did not agree with the invention that waste tires and plastics made it hard to become sleepers, but as the research progressed, visibility and attention Degree gradually increased, and now this product is expected to become the industry standard.
In addition to the advantages of being able to carry solar energy and integrating the railway industry with renewable energy sources, the company can also use customization to design according to the requirements of different countries and companies, whether it be a new railroad track or the replacement of old sleepers Greenrail hopes to change the relatively closed railway infrastructure industry through the product.
Combination of railway construction and renewable energy
New energy and green energy have always been a global concern, and the cost of solar panels has dropped in recent years, and more and more countries are trying to combine renewable energy with transportation. In Chile, which is one of the sunniest regions, The MTRC expects that 60% of its energy will come from solar and wind power this year, and 42% of the MTR power supply will be supplied by the solar power plant in the Ataturk Desert.
India is the solar panel equipment in the train, in the top of the six cars installed 16 solar panels, the main supply to the front lighting, car fans, and also equipped with energy storage system that can support 72 hours of electricity. Australia, which develops solar and wind power, also introduced the world's first fully solar-powered train.
With the technical stability of renewable energy sources, the amount of equipment will increase year after year and the cost will be more and more balanced with traditional thermal power generation. The proportion of power generation from renewable energy sources will gradually increase in the future, and these energy transformations are also reflected in the application of other industries.
