Recent Topics on Power Supply Technology

Abstract

After the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean earthquake, saving energy became a central concern for all Japanese railway operating companies, since Japan lost a major source of electric power supply. It follows therefore that R&D at RTRI should focus on power supply technologies. At the same time, for the first half of the 21st Century, Japan will face falling birthrates, an aging society, and a shrinking population, resulting in a rapid decrease of the working population. Consequently, maintenance-free technology is another key subject for RTRI. This paper describes the recent work on power supply technologies.