Hydrogen train

[7] There, Stan Thompson, a former futurist and strategic planner at US telecoms company AT&T gave a presentation entitled the Mooresville Hydrail Initiative.

Organised by Appalachian State University and the Mooresville South Iredell Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with universities and other entities, the Conferences have the aim of bringing together scientists, engineers, business leaders, industrial experts, and operators working or using the technology around the world in order to expedite deployment of the technology for environmental, climate, energy security and economic development reasons.

[citation needed] In its early years, these conferences were largely dominated by academic fields; however, by 2013, an increasing number of businesses and industrial figures have reportedly been in attendance.

[10] Hydrogen can be separated from water via several means, including steam reforming (normally involving the use of fossil fuels) and electrolysis (which requires large amounts of electricity and is less commonly used).

[10] The publication also observes that pressure to cut emissions within the railway industry is likely to play a role in stimulating demand for the uptake of hydrail.

[10] A 2018 European Commission report states that if hydrogen is produced by steam methane reforming, hydrail emissions are 45% lower than diesel trains.

The need to build up a capable distribution network for hydrogen, which in turn requires substantial investments to be made, is likely to play a role in restraining the growth of hydrail at least in the short term.

According to the results of a study performed by a consortium of Hitachi Rail Europe, the University of Birmingham, and Fuel Cell Systems Ltd, hydrail vehicles in the form of re-powered diesel multiple units could be capable of generating significant energy consumption reductions; reportedly, their model indicated a saving of up to 52 per cent on the Norwich to Sheringham line over conventional traction.

[10] An intermediate step using railroad-familiar technology is burning a mixture of diesel and hydrogen in conventional engines although this is not zero emission, the ultimate goal.

The term (for hydrogen trolley) was coined at the Fourth International Hydrail Conference, Valencia, Spain, in 2008, as a research-simplifying search engine target word.