Quote from: RE on Feb 03, 2024, 07:58 AMThe only way I can see is to use the rail system and truck only from rail hubs to distribution points. However, the rail network would need to absorb all the freight currently using the interstate highways. I don't think it has the capacity for that.
RE
Table 1
Summary data for comparing energy transmission costs in $/mile, $/MWh, and $/mile-MW
Electrical Liquid Pipeline Gas Pipeline
Energy carrier HVDC Crude Oil MeOH EtOH NG H2
Total flow (Amp, kg/s) 6,000 1,969 1,863 1,859 368.9 69.54
Delivered power (MWe, MWLHV) 2,656 91,941 37,435 50,116 17,391 8,360
Capital cost ($M/mile) $3.90 $1.47 $1.92 $1.92 $1.69 $1.38
Power loss in transmission 12.9% 0.78% 2.02% 1.51% 2.67% 1.94%
Capital cost ($/mile-MW) $1,502 $16 $51 $38 $97 $166
Amortized cost ($/MWh/1000 mi) $41.5 $0.77 $2.2 $1.7 $3.7 $5.0
Where I got this pile of facts.
I really do mean pile of facts. It is quite a jumble. Not the be all and end all but a place to start.
What does it mean for electricity to cost forty times what an oil pipeline costs to transmit the same power. That ratio is huge, but an interstate itself is not cheap to build and maintain. Would a parallel transmission line or two or three cost that much more? I do not know.
Before any analysis is done the question of total power consumption by a normal fleet of trucks on a thousand miles of freeway has to be answered. 10,000? Ten per mile? That could mean a lot of transmission lines.
Rail with truck hubs is definitely a better idea. Trains are more aerodynamic and a better use of fuel anyway.
The normal way to approach this problem, and the way I used to do it makes the circle of abstraction too small. Solve the problem for one truck and multiply up leaves a lot out. A more correct way asks all the questions. Where does the power come from. How much will all the power lines cost to build and maintain over fifty years? And so on. Questions that in the collective we are too lazy to ask.
I usually stop my analysis when I get the answer I want. Do you do different? <-- rhetorical question