Eco-friendly electric train design slashes greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion.
In this research, scientists aimed to find ways to reduce the environmental impact of an electric motor unit's carbody. They used a method called Simplified Life Cycle Assessment to measure the impact on the environment throughout the unit's life cycle. The results showed that the carbody made of SUS material had higher acidification and aquatic ecotoxicity impacts, mainly due to pollutants from the acid-washing process. On the other hand, the Mild material carbody had more significant effects on global warming and abiotic resource depletion due to the consumption of resources like iron ore and coal during manufacturing. To improve the environmental impact, the researchers suggest enhancing energy efficiency and reducing the weight of the carbody.