Even trains are going green.
Union Pacific Railroad, which has 1,324 miles of track within Arkansas' borders, says it has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 19 percent since 2018--and is aiming to cut them by more than 50 percent by 2030.
One way is by using hybrid engines.
According to the paper, the technology is akin to plug-in electric vehicles. They operate as "mother-slug" units with one traditional locomotive with a diesel generator that powers the locomotive's electric motors and a "slug" unit that can provide battery power.
The battery can recharge in a number of ways, including wayside charging and onboard self-charging. What all that means, we don't know. But the train people are excited.
Jason Fox, Union Pacific's senior director of locomotive engineering and quality, said, "It's extremely cutting edge, and one of the coolest things I've worked on in my career. If all goes well, we may someday use this technology in all of our rail yards as a switcher set used to build trains."
Even before the introduction of this unit, railroads already had a good reputation for moving products in an environmentally friendly way. Union Pacific can haul a ton of freight 463 miles on a single gallon of diesel, reducing emissions up to 75 percent over an equivalent load by trucking.
These are all good; striving for better might make them great. However, as we've seen before, as soon as it costs more to fuel with an alternative, patriotic notions of mom, apple pie, energy security and clear skies tend to fall by the wayside.
Companies need to at least break even when it comes to introducing this kind of technology.
Marc Scott, a supply chain management professor at the Walton College of Business, said, "More recent focus on environmental sustainability has made it a higher-priority objective for companies that ship goods, which means a stronger business case for the companies that provide the transportation services."
"There are a number of reasons this makes sense business-wise," he said. "This sort of move allows their customers that are desirous of showing that they're working to reduce their carbon footprint to do it."
Hats off to Union Pacific railroad.