An industry-oriented simulation and optimization framework for deploying alternative energy technologies - biofuels, e-fuels, battery-electric and hydrogen locomotives - across freight rail networks. Fuels are classified by deployment requirements, optimal charging/fueling facility location and sizing are solved in a five-step procedure, and life cycle plus techno-economic analyses estimate carbon reduction, capital investment, cost per kilogram of CO2 avoided, and operational impacts. Application to US Class I networks shows 50 percent biodiesel admixture cutting emissions 36 percent at 0.13 USD per kg CO2, e-fuels 50 percent at 0.22 USD per kg, and 800-mile-range battery-electric deployments 46 percent at 0.06 USD per kg.
The Northwestern University Freight Rail Infrastructure and Energy Network Decarbonization (NUFRIEND) framework is a comprehensive industry-oriented tool for simulating the deployment of new energy t…