Hydrogen-powered fuel cells, combined with batteries to store electricity, would be a zero-emissions solution to replace the diesel-electric locomotive, Moslener says.
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The decision not to procure new diesel trains had already been made in 2020. As soon as trains have reached the end of their economic life, they are now to be replaced with battery trains. Trains that are theoretically still operational are to be used on non-electrified lines during the transition.
Every battery locomotive that replaces a diesel will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3,000 tons per year, Wabtec estimates. But it is unlikely they can quickly replace diesel-powered trains.
But the end is in sight, as the government has declared that sales of petrol and diesel cars will end in 2035. Some car industry observers think this is ambitious, but either way, in a few years years, there won't be many diesel cars on sale. They will survive beyond that, but by 2050 they could well be a rarity.
Power plant capacity is far greater than any individual locomotive uses, so electric locomotives can have a higher power output than diesel locomotives and they can produce even higher short-term surge power for fast acceleration.
Diesel engines in passenger cars will not fade away until 2040. The IC engines will also phase out only after 2040, Elmar Degenhart said adding that it will be difficult to imagine commercial vehicles without diesel engines.
The life expectancy of diesel-electric and electric locomotives is expected to be similar—about 25 years. Both types of motive power are subject to technological obsolescence.