Science

Australia has created an «eternal» eco-friendly train

Australian mining company Fortescue Metals Group has acquired British technology company Williams Advanced Engineering, and their first project will be an «eternal» train: an ore carrier for the Western Australian deserts. It will transport iron ore from the mine to the processing plant, Nat-geo reports.
The diesel in the locomotive has been replaced by electric batteries. Ordinarily, such batteries would not be able to handle the heavy loads they have to carry and would require constant recharging.
In this case, the engineers applied an innovative recuperation method: moving uphill, the train consumes energy, but replenishes it in the downward direction. Despite the name, Infinity Train («Eternal» train) does not have a «perpetual motion machine»: recharging is done at the point of departure. However, it was the recovery that made it possible to increase the distance to a record 143 km without intermediate recharging.
The work is being carried out as part of the goal that Fortescue has taken on: zero emissions by 2030.

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