With more people getting on track for sustainable high-speed rail, reducing noise pollution and sophisticated traffic management will boost adoption.
The whistle coming down the tracks is the sound of Europe’s rail renaissance. Coming round the bend is increased adoption of high-speed rail transportation which promises to reduce road traffic and to curb harmful emissions. Cars are major culprits in air pollution, accounting for 14.5% of Europe’s total carbon emissions. Around half the flights in Europe are short haul journeys of less than 1 500km which generates many more emissions than the equivalent journey by rail.
The European Green Deal policy features plans to double high-speed rail by 2030 and triple it by 2050. At the moment, 75% of freight is moved by road, so movement of goods by rail is set to double by 2050.
Making trains more competitive with road and air travel means market reform and improvements to the passenger experience as well as infrastructural upgrades. Prioritising sustainable rail transport promises significant benefits but unfortunately, it comes with unseen dangers of its own and not just for passengers.
One of the lesser-known hazards of rail transport is the kind of noise pollution nobody can hear. Inaudible, low frequency ground vibrations emanate from the rolling stock on the railway as it passes. As well as affecting the structural integrity of nearby infrastructure, these vibrations can have a detrimental effect on people’s health, causing headaches, fatigue and even irritability in people experiencing them.
‘Right now, it is possible to reduce vibrations by putting rubber pads under the tracks,’ said Giovanni Capellari, co-founder of Phononic Vibes. ‘That system is okay for new railways because you can put them in during construction.’ His company specialises in noise and vibration technology. For an existing railway line, rubber pads are very expensive because you have to remove the tracks to install them, according to Capellari.
The BioMetaRail project is researching and developing special submerged barriers that can be deployed alongside the track to absorb the vibrations. The barrier walls rely on their shape for their noise reduction performance, rather than the properties of the material.
Known as metamaterials, these synthetic composite materials have designer properties not found in nature. Their internal structures are engineered to interact with the low frequency sound waves of a passing train to trap and insulate against them.
‘Basically, the idea is that we use shapes that have some resonant effects at frequencies that are typical for vibrations in the railway sector,’ Capellari said. In this context, the frequency of vibrations is typically between 30 and 60 Hertz. The result is a design for a two-by-three metre concrete structure that resembles a large window.
This ‘works for very low frequencies, which is very good for railway trains.’ Additionally, the “window panes” could be divided into even smaller sizes to trap a wider range of frequencies.
If the panels did not have their distinctive shape and design and were simply slabs of concrete, they would not be able to halt the train’s ground-borne vibrations as effectively as BioMetaRail’s barriers. For ease of installation, there is no need to lift the railway line as these panels can be inserted into the ground alongside the track like a sunken fence, to protect clusters of homes or buildings.
The research team is also investigating the ideal material, thickness and sizes of the barriers for their vibration damping effects.
Capellari’s BioMetaRail project is an offshoot of the BOHEME project, which stands for Bio-Inspired Hierarchical MetaMaterials. BOHEME investigates and develops different types of mechanical metamaterials inspired by principles found in nature.
From spider webs to shell whorls, BOHEME characterises natural systems and studies their possible applications. ‘The goal is to take the results from BOHEME and try to understand the best geometry (for the rail barriers) considering the market, the cost, production and installation,’ said Capellari.
‘The next step is to go to market,’ he said, as well as obtain certification for the vibration-blocking intervention. ‘There’s no such kind of system in the market right now.’
Ultimately, these panels will be lining the ground alongside the track in residential areas, allowing rail networks to significantly boost their train traffic without adversely affecting the people and buildings nearby.
In 2021, it was proposed to increase speed limits on Trans-European Transport Network trains to 160km/h or more by 2040. Increasing rail traffic also makes it vital that network operators are able to monitor the entire length of their railroads in real time. Acoustic monitoring can help achieve both these goals.
Richard Aaroe’s Next Generation Rail Technologies has developed a passive listening device that can provide railroad operators with an early warning about obstructions on the track. It can even predict what the obstruction most likely is, and where it might be found. The SAFETRACK project is working on a standalone system to ‘give accurate real-time warning of anything that happens on the infrastructure,’ Aaroe said.
The system comprises sensors, which pick up vibrations on the track, and software that identifies where on the track the sound originates and what could have caused it.
‘In a way, it is a very, very sophisticated microphone,’ Aaroe explained. The acoustic vibrations on the track that are picked up by the sensors have a ‘unique fingerprint’. The sound of a tree branch falling on the track is distinct from a mudslide, for example. Aaroe’s company has built up a ‘library’ of these railway acoustic fingerprints.
He compares the technology to when submarines use sonar to detect surface ships by picking up its acoustic signature. ‘Today, that technology has evolved so that you can not only pick up that there is a vessel passing, but you can pick up the type of engine, the class of the vessel itself, the speed, direction, and so on,’ Aaroe said.
The same principles apply with rail acoustics. ‘Every incident has a uniqueness and we have identified that and then we can report this to either the train controller, operator or even the driver themselves.’
The sensors are relatively small, about the size of a smartphone. An installation includes four sensors, one on each rail of the track and then another two 10 metres further along the track. Because sound travels through solid rails much better than through air, one sensor package can detect acoustic vibrations five kilometres in each direction.
The technology is currently being trialled by national rail networks in the UK, Germany and Spain, and it will soon be deployed in another three countries, according to Aaroe.
The European Union is committed to growing its rail transportation as part of the European Green Deal which aims to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. As more people opt for rail over cars, technology that makes trains safer and quieter will increasingly be important.
The research in this article was funded by the EU. This article was originally published in Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.
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International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, marked on 7 September, takes place in a world where almost all the air we breathe is polluted, and some seven million people die from air pollution every year. Ahead of the Day, UN News spoke to two experts about the scale of the problem, and the solutions that already exist.
For several years, the World Health Organization has warned that practically all the air we breathe is polluted, and that it’s killing around seven million people every year: about 90 per cent of those deaths take place in low and middle-income countries.
In 2019, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 7 September as the “International Day of Clean Air for blue skies”, and stressed the urgent need to raise public awareness at all levels, and to promote and facilitate actions to improve air quality.
Five years on, WHO scientists have concluded that the impact of air pollution kicks in at a much lower level than previously thought; is the international community taking the issue seriously? And, crucially, what can be done to tackle it?
To discuss the deadly issue, UN News spoke to two experts from the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, a grouping that is hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP): Martina Otto, head of the Secretariat, and Nathan Borgford-Parnell, Coordinator of Science Affairs.
Martina Otto Air pollution has often been seen as a very local, national problem. There have been efforts by a lot of countries to bring down emissions, but definitely not at the level that is needed.
And since pollutants are travelling in the air, and often for long distances, we can’t solve this by isolated measures. It’s the air we share, and that means we also have to share the solutions.
UN News How has the situation evolved in recent years?
Nathan Borgford-Parnell Air quality has not improved dramatically over the last decade, and the World Health Organization (WHO), using a very rigorous multi-year process, put out new ambient air quality guidelines last year, which cut the level at which fine particulate matter affects health by half (from 10 microns to five microns).
UN News Low and middle-income countries are identified as being by far the worst affected regions of the world. Why is that?
Nathan Borgford-Parnell The populations there have particular vulnerabilities, linked to the technologies they use for cooking, for heating their homes, for transportation, and the kind of energy that is often used.
Also, there are factors related to the age of populations, and the very young and the very old are particularly vulnerable, often without means and access to healthcare. UN News How would you evaluate the amount of cooperation that’s taking place now compared to previous years?
Martina Otto We’ve just completed our third assessment of Africa, which brought the issue to the table of governments. We’ve used those regional assessments to discuss the issues, and there is appetite to start looking into that and we’ll see where it takes us. But we are hopeful to see much more regional cooperation.
It’s no longer a blame game. It’s about looking together at the solutions, which lie in cooperation. It’s a sustainable development issue: the very thing that keeps all of us alive breathing makes us sick as well.
UN News The right to a clean environment was adopted by the UN General Assembly in July. Why was this important?
Martina Otto Because air pollution is an issue that affects all of us, and disproportionately affects those that are most vulnerable, as Nathan explained.
There’s also an economic and gender issue to this. For example, air pollution might be bad in a certain city, but the level of pollution depends very much on neighbourhoods as well, where certain industries are located, where the wind is blowing.
We know that pollution is actually greater in poor neighbourhoods, so there is a real issue of environmental injustice.
UN News What concerns you most about the links between climate change and air pollution?
Nathan Borgford-Parnell What concerns me is that we may not get enough people to recognize that there is no separation between air pollution and climate change.
Wildfires are human driven, yet some people try to act as if they’re natural occurrences. But the precipitous increase in wildfires in recent years, and the modelling that says that we’re going to continue to see them increasing all over the world in places we couldn’t have ever imagined them, shows us that climate change will directly impact the burden of disease from air pollution caused by the wildfires.
And air pollution impacts the climate: there are no air pollutants that do not impact the climate. None. Greenhouse gases, aerosols, pollutants, they all impact the climate. The links between air pollution and climate change are legion and increasing.
However, the great benefit of the fact that these things are linked, and we can combine the climate and the air quality issues in the public health communities, and push them towards solutions that achieve benefits for all.
That is the empowering message of the Climate and Clean air Coalition, and why people have been so excited to be with us for the last decade.
UN News The Cop 27 UN climate conference is coming up in November. Will air pollution be an important part of the discussions there?
Martina Otto There will be a number of events around the issue. I think the the message is getting home, in the sense that people can already see the impacts.
We know what we need to do. There are many solutions out there that make economic sense and can get the job done. We just have to get them to scale, and put political will behind that.
For example, end the open burning of waste which allows methane to escape, and manage waste in a proper way, which is also good sense because there are economic opportunities in that process.
The issue of transport as well, how we design our cities to reduce the need for transport, and make it easier to walk and cycle safely, reducing the need for fossil fuel options by looking at alternative fuels.
There’s a long list of solutions, but they’re very concrete and they actually improve the way we live in our cities as well.
A rise in the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves will not only increase wildfires this century but also worsen air quality – harming human health and ecosystems, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) launched on Wednesday, the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies.
“As the globe warms, wildfires and associated air pollution are expected to increase, even under a low emissions scenario,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
“In addition to human health impacts, this will also affect ecosystems as air pollutants settle from the atmosphere to Earth’s surface”.
The annual WMO Air Quality and Climate Bulletin warned that the interaction between pollution and climate change would impose a “climate penalty” for hundreds of millions of people.
In addition to reporting on the state of air quality and its close interlinkages with climate change, the Bulletin explores a range of possible air quality outcomes under high and low greenhouse gas emission scenarios.
The impact of last year’s wildfire smoke has served to augment this year’s heatwaves.
Mr. Taalas pointed to 2022 heatwaves in Europe and China, describing stable high atmospheric conditions, sunlight and low wind speeds as being “conducive to high pollution levels”.
“This is a foretaste of the future because we expect a further increase in the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves, which could lead to even worse air quality, a phenomenon known as the ‘climate penalty’”.
The “climate penalty” refers specifically to the increase in climate change as it impacts the air people breathe.
The region with the strongest projected climate penalty – mainly Asia – is home to roughly one-quarter of the world’s population.
Climate change could exacerbate ozone pollution, which would lead to detrimental health impacts for hundreds of millions of people.
Because air quality and climate are interconnected, changes in one inevitably causes changes in the other.
The Bulletin explains that the combustion of fossil also emits nitrogen oxide, which can react with sunlight to form ozone and nitrate aerosols.
In turn, these air pollutants can negatively affect ecosystem health, including clean water, biodiversity, and carbon storage.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report provides scenarios on the evolution of air quality as temperatures increase throughout this century.
If greenhouse gas emissions remain high, such that global temperatures rise by 3° C from preindustrial levels by the second half of the 21st century, surface ozone levels are expected to increase across heavily polluted areas, particularly in Asia.
This includes a 20 per cent jump across Pakistan, northern India and Bangladesh, and 10 per cent across eastern China.
Fossil fuel emissions will cause ozone increases that will most likely trigger heatwaves, which in turn will amplify air pollution.
Therefore, the heatwaves that are becoming increasingly common due to climate change, are likely to continue degrading air quality.
To avoid this, the IPCC suggests a low-carbon emissions scenario, which would cause a small, short-term warming prior to temperature decreases.
A future world that follows this scenario would also benefit from reduced nitrogen and sulfur compounds from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface, where they can damage ecosystems.
WMO stations around the world would monitor the response of air quality and ecosystem health to proposed future emissions reductions.
This could quantify the efficacy of the policies designed to limit climate change and improve air quality.
Regional authorities in Egypt, the host country of the 2022 UN climate conference (COP27), are ramping up initiatives designed to improve the country’s environmental credentials, and speed up its transition to a low carbon economy. The event will begin on 4 November, in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Several COP27-related initiatives are underway in Egypt: they include projects related to sustainable transport, waste recycling, women’s health, the transition to clean energy, sustainable cities, adaptation measures in the water and agriculture sector, and the links between peace and climate.
“The Egyptian Government recognizes the huge responsibility of organizing a successful conference”, says Dr. Samir Tantawy, a climate change expert at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). “The summit needs to demonstrate the damage caused by the climate crisis, particularly in developing countries. For example, the Aswan Governorate, in southern Egypt, has experienced storms, snow and heavy rain for the first time. Developing countries need to be properly compensated”.
Beyond COP27, Egypt is working towards a 2050 national climate strategy, which is based around the reduction of emissions in all sectors, and adaptation to potential changes in the climate – in agriculture, water resources, coastal areas, and health.
The national strategy also aims to bring civil society, the government, and citizens together, at the local, regional, and national levels. A number of civil society organizations are participating in workshops and seminars to raise awareness of the summit, in the hope that it will help Egypt to achieve its climate strategy goals.
In preparation for the Climate Summit, the regional authorities in the Red Sea Governorate, in cooperation with a number of other state organizations, is holding a series of events aimed at raising awareness of environmental and sustainability concerns. These workshops will continue through to November, and the opening of the Conference.
Egypt’s hosting of COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh is seen as a great opportunity to promote international climate action, and to unify the demands of African and developing countries, particularly when it comes to issues of financing, and adaptation to the effects of climate change.
UN News will provide full coverage of COP27, including news and features, and a daily episodes of our flagship news podcast The Lid Is On. Subscribe on all major podcast platforms.
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