A European high-speed rail network has begun generating electricity from 16,000 solar panels installed atop a two-mile rail tunnel on the line running from Paris to Amsterdam. The panels, built by the Belgian renewable energy company Enfinity, will provide about 50 percent of the power needed for a nearby station in Antwerp and will also produce electricity equivalent to that needed to power all the trains in Belgium for one day per year. The tunnel was originally built to protect the high-speed rail line from trees falling from an adjacent old-growth forest. “For train operators, it is the perfect way to cut their carbon footprints because you can use spaces that have no other economic value and the projects can be delivered within a year because they don’t attract the protests that wind power does,” Bart Van Renterghem of Enfinity told the Guardian.
Two-Mile ‘Solar Tunnel’ Built on Belgian High-Speed Rail Line
More From E360
-
Energy
Why U.S. Geothermal May Advance, Despite Political Headwinds
-
Food & Agriculture
In War Zones, a Race to Save Key Seeds Needed to Feed the World
-
Climate
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?
-
RIVERS
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
-
Solutions
Deconstructing Buildings: The Quest for New Life for Old Wood
-
NATURAL DEFENSES
How Restored Wetlands Can Protect Europe from Russian Invasion
-
Solutions
Birds vs. Wind Turbines: New Research Aims to Prevent Deaths
-
FORESTS
Cambodian Forest Defenders at Risk for Exposing Illegal Logging
-
OPINION
The ‘Green’ Aviation Fuel That Would Increase Carbon Emissions
-
CONSERVATION
Out of the Wild: How A.I. Is Transforming Conservation Science
-
Energy
China’s Mega Dam Project Poses Big Risks for Asia’s Grand Canyon
-
Solutions
How Natural Solutions Can Help Islands Survive Sea Level Rise