Every electric train on the Dutch railways NS network now gets 100 per cent of its energy from wind energy.
NS Dutch Railways has partnered with energy company Eneco to use its wind turbines to generate the energy needed to power all of its electric trains. The pair had hoped to achieve this milestone by 2018 but managed the feat as of January 1 this year.
NS annually consumes 1.2 billion kWh of wind electricity, reportedly equivalent to the amount all households consume each year. The 100 per cent wind energy-powered trains transport 600,000 passengers and three strokes of an Eneco wind turbine drives a railway train one kilometre.
"Trains run exclusively on electricity from new renewable energy sources," said Eneco. "To make that possible, Eneco has invested in new wind farms and other green energy production with NS to make climate-neutral travel a reality."
As the name suggests, wind turbines use wind to make electricity. The wind turns the blades, which spin a shaft connected to a generator that generates electricity. Wind is considered a form of solar energy and occurs because of the uneven heating of the atmosphere by the Sun, the uneven nature of Earth's surface, and the planet's rotation.
The terms wind energy, also known as wind power, describe the process by which the wind is used to generate mechanical power or electricity. Wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into power and this is used across industries, to grind grain or pump water for example.
NS is using the sustainable energy on behalf of rail carrier association Vivens, which includes ProRail, Arriva, Connexxion, Kombi Rail Europe, DB Schenker, ERS Railways, HSL Logistik, Rotterdam Rail Feeding and Rurtalbahn Benelux.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
