OTTAWA — North America’s largest railway is testing the prototype of a hybrid locomotive designed by RailPower Technologies Corp., a Vancouver company with just six employees, the Globe and Mail reports.
The diesel fuel/battery hybrid — marketed as the Green Goat — has the potential to reduce emissions in low-horsepower locomotives used to move freight around rail yards, says Mike Iden, the general director of locomotive engineering and quality at Union Pacific Railroad.
Mr. Iden says Union Pacific will be looking to replace its 700 yard locomotives — also known as switchers or goats — over the next five to 10 years. If the Green Goat performs well in a one-year trial run, he says, it could be just what Union Pacific needs to replace its aging switchers while meeting tougher emissions standards.
“It does have the potential for energy reduction in terms of the amount of fuel that you use and a resulting reduction in emissions . . .
“I’m not . . . saying we’re going to go out and buy 700 Green Goats, but that is potentially part of a market that could exist for this technology.”
Mr. Iden says Union Pacific is also looking at a number of other suppliers for its replacement switchers. But if the Green Goat lives up to expectations, the potential market for the hybrid could go well beyond Union Pacific, a division of Bethlehem, Pa.-based Union Pacific Corp.
Len Cocolicchio, a spokesman for Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., says the entire rail industry is closely watching the Union Pacific trial.
“Whether this develops into more than interest will, of course, depend on the results of the [Union Pacific] tests. The [Union Pacific] tests will shed light on the environmental benefits of the technology, the longer-term operating performance, and capital and operating costs.”
Mark Hallman, a spokesman for Montreal-based Canadian National Railway Co., says CN is prepared to look at the Green Goat. But the railway’s fleet of yard switchers is relatively new. As a result, he says, the company is focusing its efforts to reduce emissions on its mainline locomotive fleet.
The Green Goat uses similar technology to that used in hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius.
Yard switchers typically run on 2,000-horsepower motors. But with lots of stopping and starting in the rail yards, switchers rarely ever run at their maximum output. That means a lot of wasted fuel.
In the Green Goat, the large motor has been replaced with a small, 100-horsepower motor, which is used to keep its batteries charged. The Green Goat then runs off the battery power.
Gerald Koldyk, RailPower’s president and chief executive officer, says the Green Goat could use about 30 per cent less fuel than a traditional yard switcher, which could result in an 85-per-cent reduction in oxides of nitrogen, a precursor to smog.
Mr. Koldyk says it cost RailPower about $1-million (U.S.) to develop the prototype. He says that if the Green Goat goes into production, it should retail for about $600,000. The company is looking for a manufacturer in Mexico or Canada.
If the Green Goat takes off, RailPower has more ambitious plans. The company hopes its version of a natural gas locomotive will allow it to expand into supplying locomotives for mainline work.
RailPower’s shares closed down 10 cents (Canadian) Friday to $2.10 on the TSX Venture Exchange.