One of the more exciting things about the shift to renewable energy is the innovation that it’s spurring: A total re-examination of how we collect and harness different power sources. The best kind of innovation is the kind that seems blindingly obvious once it’s implemented, like putting solar cells on the roofs of train tunnels.
This outdoor tunnel for a train that runs from Paris to Amsterdam was recently topped with 16,000 solar panels. Image from: Enfinity
Think about it: No one is going to NIMBY a train tunnel. A tunnel is not a pristine, untouched hillside - the kind that many groups say would be ruined by wind turbines. It also doesn’t have any artistic, architectural, or historical value to speak of, so putting solar panels on one won’t violate preservation laws.
The solar panels stretch along two miles of the tunnel, in Belgium, along a train track that runs from Paris to Amsterdam. The section runs through an ancient forest near Antwerp, a city in Belgium, and the tunnel was originally built so the tracks could be protected from falling trees and other debris without clear-cutting a wide swath of ancient trees along the line. Adding solar panels to the top of the tunnel will provide the equivalent of enough electricity to power all the trains in Belgium for one day per year. In reality, the electricity will actually provide about half of the power needed to run nearby Antwerp station on a daily basis.
Plus, since no one complained about the plan, the panels were up within a year. To compare, it’s been seven months since the U.S. government approved a proposal for a large-scale solar facility in the desert of Southern California, and the project has been held up repeatedly due to environmental concerns over the fragility of the land, and a lawsuit filed by the Quechen Native American Tribe, which objects to not being consulted after it was discovered that part of the facility would reach into their land.
The above wrangling is typical for many renewable energy projects, which is why breakthroughs like the solar train are increasingly important – they prove that renewable energy can be done on a large scale without negative impacts. All it takes is a little creativity.
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