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Statement for the Record by Robert E. Green, Founder and CEO, American Solar Rail Before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety Hearing on “Cleaner Trains: Opportunities for Reducing Emissions from America’s Rail Network.” August 9, 2023

American Solar Rail (ASR) appreciates the Senate Environment & Public Works’ Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety holding its hearing titled “Cleaner Trains: Opportunities for Reducing Emissions from America’s Rail Network.”

ASR has spent a decade researching a solar-powered version of a high-speed train – powered by electric battery, not an overhead catenary. Our goal has been to enable a national template for CO2 free transportation super-corridors along interstate and highways that support both rail and electric vehicle (EV) travel and enable Americans the ability to significantly reduce their carbon footprint. That is ASR.   With the help of the rail engineering experts at AAR’s MxV Rail, ASR has made major strides in bringing high-speed intercity passenger rail (HSIPR) to reality.

INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN SOLAR RAIL

Energy as an Asset – Significantly Cuts Operating Costs

Our solar-charged, battery powered trains are designed to operate on 100 percent renewable energy. Solar electricity provides almost three times the workforce power than diesel and will travel almost three times the distance at lower cost. Diesel can never overcome that advantage.  Our solar rail network will be built to have the capacity to provide surplus electricity back to the power grid or sold to EV’s. Therefore, ASR has flipped the script on rail operations turning one of traditional rail’s largest operating expenses into an asset. ASR trains are a primary tool to expedite decarbonization, and with our competition, ignite an industrial race to decarbonize our transportation sector faster and cheaper.

Capitalizing on Excess Energy Capacity

Existing interstate rail corridor compacts pave the way for clean energy-transmission corridors, as large quantities of clean electricity can be delivered through networks of solar farms along existing and new rail corridors. Clean energy-transportation corridors are the new transmission lines that can address high-priority national interstate transmission needs and offer significant distributed energy generation alternatives to improve reliability and resilience of the power system.  Corridors fueled with clean energy can alleviate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by taking cars and trucks off the road.

For example, the extension of the Southeast High-Speed Rail corridor from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, will develop an integrated passenger rail transportation solution for the Southeast, including high-speed rail from Washington, D.C. through Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, and Raleigh, North Carolina, and from Charlotte to Atlanta. ASR is poised to service these corridors and develop the solar power to operate its trains from a transmission grid of networked solar farms along transportation corridors that will also provide clean energy along hundreds of miles of the corridor.

High-Speed Operations on Existing Rail Infrastructure – Dramatically Cuts Capital Costs

ASR’s solar-charged battery powered trains and a unique rail car can operate its 21^st century train on most existing 20^th century rail infrastructure.   In fact, since ASR’s electric trains are not reliant on catenary systems, they can operate on 99.5 percent of the worlds existing rail lines, ensuring true global interoperability.

Rail is already one of America’s most efficient forms of powered transportation, and our solar technologies will help expand the availability of intercity rail nationwide and create thousands of jobs in the process.  ASR trains have extremely low fuel costs and are capable of providing low-cost, but very valuable and efficient rail service to cities across the country.

ASR’s innovation extends beyond small-scale intercity rail service and could provide a template for zero-emissions service throughout the United States and the world. The EU is currently seeking technology similar to ASR’s. Outside of the Northeast Corridor, the story is similar to passenger rail, where trains must rely on diesel locomotives to transport passengers over long distances which lack electric rail infrastructure. ASR has a zero-emissions solution to national rail needs outside the Northeast Corridor and other intercity rail corridors by carrying its electrical needs onboard.

Reliable, High-Speed Trip Times – Key to Supporting Robust Ridership

At present, passenger rail emissions are roughly one-fifth of those emitted by airplanes.[1] ASR and other innovators can ensure an even better ratio. With our technologies, we can eliminate emissions while increasing efficiency and helping drive a mode-shift that removes many cars from congested roads and competes directly with air travel in terms of trip times and ticket prices. By providing high-speed, efficient rail to more destinations nationwide, ASR is the solution that America needs to enter an emissions-free transportation future.

Unprecedented Growth in the US Railcar Market

The total passenger and freight rail market is almost $100 billion, and federal investment from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is expected to increase that significantly, with $42.5 billion in federal funds for passenger rail through FY 2026. The sale of ASR’s unique rail car with its patented propulsion system to existing railroads is destined to be included in this growth.  House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA) stated that “For the first time, this mode of transportation has guaranteed funding for multiple years. The value of this certainty is not to be understated. This is akin to the beginning of the interstate highway system.”

THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN SOLAR RAIL’S EMDI CAR

ASR was created in 2020 to advance a new option for access and egress of passengers and light freight from a moving train, creating new performance dynamics that had not existed in any railroad.   The operational efficiency will enable ASR trains to travel at 125 – 135 mph top speed while still maintaining similar average speed – and thus a similar trip time – as trains with 180 mph top speed using conventional passenger exchange. We knew this would change passenger rail construction and operation costs significantly.  We knew the last technology box to be checked to enable ASR was a battery capable of driving the rail system by solar charged battery systems, freeing the railcars from any catenary system. Current-day battery technology is more than adequate for ASR’s needs.  

Impervious to weather and traffic congestion, HSIPR rail trips inside 300-350 miles can provide affordable and effective service to more intercity depots with far more flexible capability, if, the rail service adopts a unique operational method. Very few guessed a Continuous Railway System (CRS) like ASR’s, an idea tested over 100 years ago but then lost in history, it still remains the unmatched choice for HSIPR. When speeds exceed ~120 -140 mph, more speed is not necessarily the best operational answer. Up until 2020, the past 60 years has only been about more speed and costs for passenger rail worldwide. No other solutions, such as CRS, were tested. ASR’s purpose was to deploy the synergy created by merging solar energy and CRS into creating America’s most potent tool to halt unnecessary atmospheric carbonization in the transportation and electric generation industries while delivering some of the most profitable, effective high-speed, intercity passenger and light freight systems.    

ASR’s analyses rewound rail history and found that CRS could, without increasing top speeds, almost duplicate the average speed of trains traveling about 20 – 30% faster by using a new rail car, the EMDI, (EMbarkation/DIsembarkation). The battery driven EMDI enables continuous movement of the train by providing in-transit coupling and decoupling capability to allow passengers to access and egress without stopping the main train. Furthermore, by constantly being able to recharge the EMDI from local solar fields every time it goes into the depot to pick up passengers, it can continuously recharge the main locomotive’s battery bank, making the trains continuous operation feasible. The EMDI solves traditional HSIPR’s start-and-stop inefficiency and significantly lowers construction and operational costs.   Analysis further showed ASR’s most CO2-free design to be the most financially profitable, operationally efficient, and energetically powerful version, i.e., carbon free was paying for itself.  

The environmental analyses now displayed “amplification of decarbonization.” This was the impact of a system that removes multiple sources of CO2 emissions (passenger’s ICE cars) using the same kWh’s. When that system operates on renewable energy, the decarbonization becomes multiplied. Starting in June 2021 the Association of American Railroads’ engineering lab (the Transportation Technology Center, now called MxV Rail), spent nearly two years conducting feasibility studies of ASR’s research and ideas to assess any engineering hurdles to bringing the EMDI to production. MxV Rail’s Final Report supports our decision that it is time to bring the EMDI to the Federal Railroad Administration to address safety and certification standards needed before building the prototype.

In June, Forbes magazine ran a story describing how California’s $100 billion high-speed train will be fully solar powered. More good news emerged in the story:  Brightline West, the proposed high-speed railway connecting Las Vegas to suburban L.A., also intends to rely on carbon-free electricity. Brightline West intends to purchase power from operators of large desert solar fields and touts its system as “100% electrified. It will use renewable power. It will literally be, not an embellishment, the greenest train in the world.”[2]  The commitment of two of America’s high-speed passenger rail system to solar-generated power is an achievement we should all cheer.    

ASR thanks the Subcommittee for the opportunity to submit written testimony following the Subcommittee’s hearing and welcomes further engagement on these important topics. As the United States continues to decarbonize our economy and restore our infrastructure, ASR hopes Congress will continue to recognize cutting-edge rail technologies as a solution to our nation’s most urgent climate and transportation challenges.

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[1] “Overview of Rail.” International Energy Agency. https://www.iea.org/energy-system/transport/rail

[2] “California’s $100 billion Electric Bullet Train will be Fully Solar Powered, https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2023/06/12/californias-100-billion-electric-bullet-train-will-be-fully-solar-powered/?sh=29a36cc86796

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