Galileo: Energy and Transport

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StreetFilms Looks at Bus Rapid Transit in LA

LA isn't exactly known as the most transit-friendly city in the world. Built around the motorcar, and lacking the density of cities like New York or Washington DC, it's hard to imagine how Los Angeles can remedy this situation either. However, if this video from the ever-productive StreetFilms is anything to go by, then they are certainly trying.

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China's Powerful New Emission-Killing Trains

They won't look much different, but the first of 300 fuel-efficient locomotives are about to hit China. Using a lighter weight design, the China Mainline Evolution Series locomotive by GE achieves a peak output of 6,250-horsepower, which is 40% more power than the top-of-the-line Evolution locomotives currently being used in North America. At the same time, the 16-cylinder diesel-electric engine generates 84% fewer emissions and increases fuel efficiency by 3% to 5%. So impressive, it even makes the guys in Erie who manufacture it break into renditions of that song from Top Gun (see video below).

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Methane Power For Metro System

In Mexico, methane from landfills, a natural byproduct of decomposing organic matter known as landfill gas, or LFG, makes up 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Beginning in 2001, Monterrey, Mexico—a modern city of nearly four million people that disposes of over 4,500 tons of municipal solid waste a day in the Metropolitan Solid Waste Processing landfill— attempted to harvest methane from the land­fill for electricity while reducing methane emissions. It's a solid ecological one-two punch: reduce gas emissions from solid waste while improving solid waste management.

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The Train That Never Stops

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