Earlier this year (2018) the Minister for Transport announced an ambition to remove all diesel only trains off the track by 2040.This is part of the of the overall UK government target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% (from the 1990 baseline) by 2050.

Steamology are developing innovative, hydrogen based, power generation and storage products that deliver zero emission solutions when powered by Renewable Energy (RE). The SBRI first of a kind round 2,demonstrating a greener railway, will enable the application of this technology to Theme 1 : decarbonisation of the railway.

This project team will be able to tackle the key competition priorities of:
• Transferring ideas from other sectors such as automotive
• Improvements in air quality in stations
• Innovative power train and energy storage systems for rolling stock
• Alternatives to fossil fuels based on advances in automotive to reduce noise and pollution with more self-powered rail vehicles
• Examining the energy requirements of the whole system and optimising efficiency with a more flexible and integrated energy system
• More holistic approach to energy use making better use of energy generation and storage technologies to reduce operational costs and carbon footprints

Steamology is an innovative technology development company with an extreme engineering pedigree and a land speed record-breaking heritage. Founded to commercially exploit the technology legacy from a successful world record attempt and to explore the potential of novel clean green renewable hydrogen steampower generation. Steamology has a proven record in delivering complex functioning systems. At the heart of the W2W (Water 2 Water) system is a compact energy dense steam generator. Steam is generated using energy stored as compressed hydrogen and oxygen gas in tanks. High pressure superheated steam is used to drive a turbine to do useful work by generating electricity. This will provide an innovative power train for Vivarail Class 230 rolling stock. The turbine is a range extender concept that will be able to charge the battery packs already installed. Renewable Energy is used to power electrolysis to generate the hydrogen and oxygen gas and to compress the gas into storage tanks. This W2W closed cycle is emission free producing no carbon or NOX emissions in a repeatable cycle without charging losses