TRANSIT NEWSFILE

摘要

Railway infrastructure is being used to generate green energy for the first time in Europe with the inauguration of a 'Solar Tunnel' in Belgium where 3.4 kms of tunnel roof near Antwerp, part of the high-speed line connecting Paris and Amsterdam, has been covered with 16,000 solar photo voltaic cells, an area of roughly 50,000 m2, equivalent to about eight football pitches. The panels will generate an estimated 3.3 Megawatt hours of electricity a year, equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of nearly 1,000 homes, and will carbon dioxide emissions by 2,400 tonnes per year. The electricity will be used to power the railway infrastructure, signalling, lighting, heating of railway stations etc., and trains using the Belgian rail network. About 4,000 trains per year, equivalent to one full day of rail traffic, will be able to run entirely on solar energy. Discussions around the Solar Tunnel project began at the start of 2010, and the project was finalised by the end of the year.