Quote:
Originally Posted by brianidaho
I want what they are smoking! Sounds like a pipe dream to scam the taxpayer...again.
|
Technically it might be achievable, but cost is one thing that one might question. Mag Lev is not a new technology though and cost savings could be made by combining other services with the infrastructure. i.e. electricity, water, fuels etc...
If they are using fixed magnets Magnetodynamic (
MDS ) it might be more affordable. Not sure though. I have sometimes wondered if one could reduce the power consumed by MagLev trains, by adding winglets on the train to help create lift, thus helping reduce the power required to create an electromagnetic field to lift the weight of the train.
Actually after some Googling: maglev train power consumption
The New Mode of Transport for the 21st Century
MAGLEV New Mode of Transport
Quote:
|
At 300 miles per hour in the open atmosphere, Maglev consumes only 0.4 megajoules per passenger mile, compared to 4 megajoules per passenger mile of oil fuel for a 20-miles-per-gallon auto that carries 1.8 people (the national average) at 60 miles per hour (mph). At 150 mph in the atmosphere, Maglev consumes only 0.1 of a megajoule per passenger mile, which is just 2 percent of the energy consumption of a typical 60-mph auto. In low-pressure tunnels or tubes, like those proposed for Switzerland’s Metro system, energy consumption per passenger mile will shrink to the equivalent of 10,000 miles per gallon.
|
If this info is realistic, then the notion of MagLev powered by solar and wind and hydrogen becomes more feasible than we might have expected.