Interesting blog post from Scientific American, derived ultimately from a study done for JP Morgan-advised investors. Bottom line: electrical system CO2 emissions can be cut very substantially, but at a cost. Duh. But this report puts some numbers on it. Surprisingly, adding storage to balance a system with a lot of variable sources (mostly renewables) ends up costing more than just keeping the conventional power plants around but using them less. There's a link in the post for getting the original material.

[blogs.scientificamerican.com]

Seems to have no direct relevance to trains. But there *is* some thought in the US about electrifying things to reduce localized emissions (yes, I have long called electric cars and trains "remote-emission vehicles"), as was done long ago in Europe and Japan for other reasons. May not happen soon, but that doesn't mean it never will (and GE has stated it's ability to provide dual-power locomotives that could operate under wire in metro areas and on diesel in the country). Most High Speed Rail schemes require electric propulsion power. So cleaning up the sources of the power is relevant to its actual and potential use in railroading. A stretch perhaps, but the story was interesting in its own right.