Citation
Leal Filho, W. (2006), "Editorial", Management of Environmental Quality, Vol. 17 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/meq.2006.08317aaa.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Editorial
Welcome to another issue of MEQ. In this issue readers will find a set of papers dealing with environmental management and conservation issues in different parts of the world.
In this editorial I would like to discuss the issue of renewable energy. With oil prices reaching unprecedented heights and with the threat of oil shortages in North America, attention is now turning to the need to use more sustainable energy, i.e. extending the use of renewable energy sources.
An interesting example comes from Sweden, which has unveiled the world’s first biogas train. The biogas train “Amanda”, the world’s first of its type, has been jointly developed by Tekniska Verk, a Swedish biogas company, and Swedish railways subsidiary EuroMaint.
The prototype has been built by replacing the diesel motors in a 25-year-old engine with modern gas-driven motors, the same used in some biogas-driven buses. A biogas train can be driven for 600 km, running at a maximum speed of 135 km per hour. Sweden’s first biogas train has just entered into service. Biogas is renewable, and it reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 98 percent as well as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons by two thirds compared to diesel.
The concept of the biogas train will be especially useful in developing countries, where stretches of rail tracks use diesel engines in the absence of electricity. Further details on this interesting development are available from EuroMaint (see www.euromaint.com).
Enjoy your reading!
Walter Leal FilhoEditor