Japan’s largest railway company is to begin testing the country’s first hydrogen-fueled train next month in a step toward the nation’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
The two car “Hybari” train — a blend of the word “hybrid” and the Japanese word for a lark — cost about ¥4 billion (US$34.81 million) to develop and can travel up to 140km at a top speed of 100km/h on a single filling of hydrogen.
East Japan Railway Co, which developed the train in partnership with Toyota Motor Corp and Hitachi Ltd, plan to use the trains to replace its diesel fleet while looking for export markets. Commercial services are planned to begin in 2030.
Photo: AFP
Japan has made hydrogen a key clean-energy source to reach net-zero emissions. Toyota is aiming for a tenfold increase in the production of hydrogen-fueled Mirai cars with its second-generation model, while more fuel-cell buses and commercial vehicles are on the road.
The government has said that it aims to boost the amount of hydrogen use to 20 million tonnes by 2050, while energy companies such as Iwatani Corp and Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd are trying to build hydrogen supply chains to bring down its price.
Europe has been a pioneer in hydrogen trains, with Germany rolling out the world’s first train built by Alstom SA in 2018. Siemens AG and Deutsche Bahn AG are developing new regional trains and special fueling stations, to be tested in 2024.
X-37B COMPARISON: China’s spaceplane is most likely testing technology, much like US’ vehicle, said Victoria Samson, an official at the Secure World Foundation China’s shadowy, uncrewed reusable spacecraft, which launches atop a rocket booster and lands at a secretive military airfield, is most likely testing technology, but could also be used for manipulating or retrieving satellites, experts said. The spacecraft, on its third mission, was last month observed releasing an object, moving several kilometers away and then maneuvering back to within a few hundred meters of it. “It’s obvious that it has a military application, including, for example, closely inspecting objects of the enemy or disabling them, but it also has non-military applications,” said Marco Langbroek, a lecturer in optical space situational awareness at Delft
Malaysia yesterday installed a motorcycle-riding billionaire sultan as its new king in lavish ceremonies for a post seen as a ballast in times of political crises. The coronation ceremony for Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim, 65, at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur followed his oath-taking in January as the country’s 17th monarch. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement that sees the throne change hands every five years between the rulers of nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty. While chiefly ceremonial, the position of king has in the past few years played an increasingly important role. Royal intervention was
The Philippine Air Force must ramp up pilot training if it is to buy 20 or more multirole fighter jets as it modernizes and expands joint operations with its navy, a commander said yesterday. A day earlier US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the US “will do what is necessary” to see that the Philippines is able to resupply a ship on the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) that Manila uses to reinforce its claims to the atoll. Sullivan said the US would prefer that the Philippines conducts the resupplies of the small crew on the warship Sierra Madre,
AIRLINES RECOVERING: Two-thirds of the flights canceled on Saturday due to the faulty CrowdStrike update that hit 8.5 million devices worldwide occurred in the US As the world continues to recover from massive business and travel disruptions caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, malicious actors are trying to exploit the situation for their own gain. Government cybersecurity agencies across the globe and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz are warning businesses and individuals around the world about new phishing schemes that involve malicious actors posing as CrowdStrike employees or other tech specialists offering to assist those recovering from the outage. “We know that adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this,” Kurtz said in a statement. “I encourage everyone to remain vigilant