MetaEfficient Reviews » Trains

Efficient: Books That Explain Train Travel In North America

Justin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:05:50 +0000

Train travel is one of the most efficient forms of transportation. However, in North America, traveling by rail is not particularly systematic or comprehensive. It’s difficult to get an overview of what’s available. Thankfully, there are several good books on North American train travel, which I read recently. Here’s a brief review: (more…)

Biogas: Producing Ultra-Efficient Fuel From Sewage

Justin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:53:04 +0000

We could be generating huge amounts of power from sewage. The process is fairly simple — just ferment sewage to produce a fuel called biogas. Biogas is almost entirely methane, and so is natural gas, so the two are essential interchangeable. The potential to produce biogas is almost entirely overlooked by most countries — except Sweden. (more…)

Allison Rogers: Commuting Overnight By Train: Efficient

Justin — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 05:28:56 +0000

Train travel — it’s an efficient form of travel that really should revived in this country. Air travel, as we know it today, doesn’t make much sense, if closely examined (although I’d like to see zero-emission planes and airship-based travel). But I digress — Allison Rogers, an optimal living trailblazer, has been commuting up and down the East Coast by rail for a while now. On Earth Day she took the overnight Amtrak train from Boston to DC. At Union Station, she changed from pajamas to work clothes, and went straight into work at the Capitol! (more…)

Highly Efficient “Kid Friendly” Trains

Justin — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 03:15:47 +0000

I’ve never been on a train like this. Here are two superbly designed trains from Japan, that take the idea of ‘child-friendly public transport’ to the next level. Designed by Eiji Mitooka, the two trains seen here are the ‘Omoden’ (toy train) and ‘Ichigo Ec’ (strawberry train). They are a couple of regional trains which travel on a daily basis on the 14.3km Kishigawa line in Japan. (more…)

High Speed Trains For The U.S.

Justin — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:57:11 +0000

We are exchanging post with the Ecotality blog today. This post looks at Europe’s expanding high speed rail systems:

While America’s leaders fiddle around and our rail seems to go down in flames, Europe is strengthening its rail system. Two interrelated items to consider: High-Speed Trains are expanding in Europe and are cutting travel times, and European train systems are combining in an alliance program to be better positioned to fight discount airlines.

(more…)