Demand Management, Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions - July 10, 2019
Amtrak engineers 17% GHG reduction
Amtrak reached a greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 17% in 2018 over a 2010 baseline, including a 1.75% reduction from 2017 to 2018. Amtrak’s GHG emissions come from all locomotive diesel fuel, traction power, electricity used in Amtrak facilities, fuel for maintenance equipment, refrigerants, and highway fleet fuel. The decline was attributed to the reduction of train fuel use and of electricity consumption in traction power and at Amtrak facilities.
The company’s just-released FY2018 Sustainability Report noted that Amtrak also reached its goal to reduce non-propulsion electricity consumption by 1% in its top 40 largest facilities nationwide. The decrease was driven by operational changes and energy efficiency projects at maintenance facilities in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Bear (Delaware) and New York.
"Sustainability is becoming a consistent component in Amtrak's projects, operations and strategic plans, which is quickly positioning the company toward being an industry leader," said Richard Anderson, Amtrak President & CEO. "This report reflects how we incorporate environmental, financial and social sustainability considerations into our decision-making processes."
Amtrak reported energy savings of $2 million for the year through smart resource management. According to the report, “through aggressive power management of four substations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Amtrak can significantly shift our load from the ‘expensive’ substati0n to less expensive alternatives. In CY18 the expensive load demand was reduced by 48% and so far in CY19, we have been able to reduce the loads by an additional 76%.”
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