CLEANER-D - Clean European rail - diesel
Overview
Background & policy context:
A study by CER, UNIFE, UIC and Euromot regarding the railway and engine manufacturing industries concluded that there was a risk of disruptive effect of the NRMM Directive application on the railway diesel vehicle supply market. This leads to a possible risk of a partial modal shift from rail to road on regional passenger lines and freight transportation specialised routes, with foreseeable consequences on the operations of the main electrified system. Such a shift would of course be highly detrimental to the achievement of the general objectives of a sustainable development of the European transport system.
Objectives:
Clean European Rail-Diesel (CleanER-D) was a project that aimed to develop, improve and integrate emissions reduction technologies for diesel locomotives and rail vehicles. Its target was to achieve emission levels below the limits established by the new European Directive 2004/26/EC and to evaluate innovative and hybrid solutions for the best possible contribution to reductions in CO2 emissions.
The project aimed at finding the best balance between environmental and economical requirements, in order to avoid an always possible shift from rail transport to a less sustainable mode like road. Even on electrified main routes, the engine industry need to be encouraged to give rail applications serious consideration in their product development plans and provide the European Commission with proposals for a flexible move to the IIIB objective.
The CleanER-D project offers competitive rail vehicles in order to avoid a modal shift from rail to road, and evaluates different solutions to fulfil the IIIB emission limits on rail vehicles.
Methodology:
The project was built on several application sub-projects, representative of the different engine applications: rail cars, Diesel Multiple Units, shunting locomotives, main line light and heavy-haul locomotives. These applications will enable the industry to evaluate the different solutions to be applied to rail systems in real operating conditions.
The optimum trade-off between the reduction of pollutant emissions by rail vehicles and the fuel energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as the overall impact of the applied technologies on the environment through a life cycle assessment approach, will be identified by this experimental part of the project.
The project encourages the rail manufacturing industry to foster development of rail specific applications of innovative solutions, so as to even further develop the competitive advantages of rail transport in terms of sustainable development.
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