Spiffy Ride – French Nuclear Power Cleans Up Eurostar High-speed Rail Network; 3-years ahead of schedule to beat CO2 reduction goals
(Source: Green Inc, NY Times)
Previously, half of the energy in the tunnel came from Britain, which relies more heavily on coal and gas-fired power.
France generates about 80 percent of its electricity from a fleet of nearly 60 nuclear reactors — which produce little CO2. The company said the speedier-than-expected reductions could be attributed to a number of factors — from more efficient train driving and turning off half of all on-board lights, to increasing the number of people riding each train.
But the vast majority of reductions were achieved by switching to France as the primary provider of electricity for trains traveling the undersea tunnel between Britain and Paris, according to a spokesman, Richard Holligan.
Not content with its progress, Eurostar is now moving ahead to raise its target to further cut emissions because it had already reached its original goals. The new target: reducing CO2 emissions by 35 percent per passenger journey by 2012.