Full Text of SR1088 100th General Assembly
SR1088 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The State of Illinois is the freight rail hub of | 3 | | the nation and its rail network represents a
significant | 4 | | portion of the State's transportation infrastructure; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, The seven major U.S. freight railroads consumed | 6 | | more than 3.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel in 2012, or 7% of
| 7 | | all diesel fuel consumed in the United States; the fuel cost | 8 | | more than $11 billion in 2012 and accounted
for 23% of total | 9 | | operating expenses; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel | 11 | | and is being used throughout the world to reduce harmful
| 12 | | emissions; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) is natural gas cooled | 14 | | to -162°C and converted to liquid, which takes up
1/600th the | 15 | | volume of gas in the gaseous state; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Railroads are considering the use of LNG in | 17 | | locomotives because of the potential for significant fuel cost
| 18 | | savings and the resulting reductions in fuel operating costs; | 19 | | given the expected price difference
between LNG and diesel | 20 | | fuel, future fuel savings are expected to more than offset the | 21 | | approximately $1
million incremental cost associated with an |
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| 1 | | LNG locomotive and its tender; and | 2 | | WHEREAS, The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) | 3 | | projects that Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) will play an
| 4 | | increasing role in powering freight locomotives in coming | 5 | | years; continued growth in domestic natural
gas production and | 6 | | substantially lower natural gas prices compared to crude oil | 7 | | prices could result in
significant cost savings for locomotives | 8 | | that use LNG as a fuel source; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, Canadian National (CN) tested a Liquefied Natural | 10 | | Gas (LNG)-fueled train on a 300-mile portion of its
mainline | 11 | | between Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Alberta, from September | 12 | | 2012 to September 2013; the 3,000-horsepower locomotives, | 13 | | which operated 90% on natural gas and 10% on diesel,
were | 14 | | estimated to have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 30% | 15 | | and nitrogen oxide
emissions by about 70%; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, In June 2016, Russian Railways struck an agreement | 17 | | with Russian gas supplier Gazprom to develop LNG
fueling | 18 | | infrastructure at locations approved by Russian Railways to | 19 | | test 40 gas turbine-powered
locomotives; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, In December 2016, it was announced that Indian | 21 | | Railways will move forward with converting all of its
existing | 22 | | locomotives to dual-fuel LNG engines, which will cut diesel |
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| 1 | | consumption by 20%; therefore, be it
| 2 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL | 3 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress to | 4 | | enact tax incentives that would encourage rail carriers to | 5 | | utilize
natural gas powered locomotives and grow LNG | 6 | | infrastructure; and be it further
| 7 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 8 | | delivered to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.S. | 9 | | Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, U.S. Speaker of the House | 10 | | Paul Ryan, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy | 11 | | Pelosi, and all members of the Illinois Congressional | 12 | | Delegation.
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