London Underground Set to Run on 100% Renewable Energy in the Future

The London Underground is moving towards being powered by 100% renewable energy. Their move is in line with London’s railway’s plans to be zero-emissions by 2030. The city aims to be entirely carbon-neutral by 2050. TfL (Transport for London) uses 1.6TWh each year which is the same as over 400,000 average homes.

Did you know the London Underground on its own uses 1.2TWh each year?

That’s not including the Overground, trams or buses. The British Business Energy company estimates that it will take 200 wind turbines and 5.6 million solar panels to make the network wholly renewable for a year. This space would take up the size of Chelsea and Kensington. So far, 16% of the Underground energy consists of renewable energy.

TfL has plans to place solar panels on land next to railway tracks to use up less space in other areas of London.

This is called trackside solar. They aim to do this on land and buildings they own to save costs and space. However, there are a few issues with trackside solar panels. Due to them never being implemented before, there poses a risk of danger when engineers do maintenance work on the solar panels causing glare for train drivers.

Another way to get to a 100% renewable energy goal is for excess heat from the tube to warm houses of Londoners. The heat generated from trains breaking gets absorbed into the walls and gets very hot. Currently, a trail is going on where the Northern Line is trying to heat 1,000 homes during the winter. In the summer, cooler outdoor air will flow into hot stations.

London City Hall is aiming to expand renewable energy in London without sacrificing precious green spaces in London. It aims to cover the whole of TfL network, police and fire services. This decision has been welcomed by the Mayor of London, Greenpeace and the Renewable Energy Association.

There is also the question of reducing electricity consumption too. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of UK businesses are working from home. Commuting may never be the same again with its usual overflowing capacity of people on the tube. It has been estimated that 45% of workers will expect a lot more flexibility in their work stints than ever before when the pandemic is over.

The fewer people that are commuting to work, the better the amount of electricity consumption. It would, in fact, save over 460,000kWh of electricity. This is enough to power a whopping 46,000 homes in London each day.


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