The Case for Rail Conversion to Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cells in the Context of CO2 Emission Abatement

Abstract

Any policy aimed at reduction of Canadian CO₂ emissions should consider the relative ease with which railways could be converted from diesel fuel to liquid hydrogen using fuel cells. If policy directed at C0₂ reduction also promoted a reversal of the existing trend away from rail toward road, the effectiveness of this conversion would have substantial leverage. Naturally, to be effective, the hydrogen would have to come from a source that did not emit much C0₂. Electrolysis using electricity from a non-carbon source is the obvious source. The alternative of track electrification appears to be highly uncompetitive.