Steam engines and turbines operate on the Rankine cycle which has a maximum Carnot efficiency of 63% for practical engines, with steam turbine power plants able to achieve efficiency in the mid 40% range.
People Also Ask
A steam engine is huge and heavy. ...
Steam engine has low efficiency.
Steam engine does not start at once.
Before a steam engine can start, one has to build a coal fire to get steam which takes a long time.
Coal fired steam locomotives do produce a lot of CO2 emissions but also aerosols which has a cooling effect (global dimming), which cancels out some of the warming produced by CO2. Diesel locos probably produce less CO2 but also less aerosols that would cancel out the CO2.
Many locomotives can last 30–40 years, depending on the maintenance done on them. Our GG1 Lasted 41 years, but many of the steam locomotives were retired early. So they had years left in them, but the company did not want to run steam anymore, so they were retired early.
Railfan & Railroad stated in 2022 that the only places on earth to see steam locomotives in revenue freight service are small switching operations in China, North Korea and Bosnia, but that these were sporadic at best. Tourist locomotives are still in regular use.
True, there is little or no chance of steam trains replacing electric and diesel trains on our modern rail network. But if steam remains history, it is an unusually active and extensive variety of history. Steam has made an impressive comeback under the guise of heritage, to become an enormous national asset.