Pacific Harbor Line (PHL), a subsidiary of Anacostia Rail Holdings, has entered into a development agreement with Michigan-based startup Remora to explore the use of onboard carbon capture technology for freight rail.
The project aims to capture carbon dioxide directly from locomotive exhaust using Remora’s mobile system, which has already been piloted on trucks. The captured CO₂ can be converted to liquid form and sold to commercial sectors such as agriculture, food processing, and manufacturing, creating a potential revenue stream for rail operators.
PHL provides rail services to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles and has progressively upgraded its fleet, beginning with Tier 2 locomotives and transitioning to Tier 3+, renewable diesel, battery-electric test units, and now Tier 4 compliance via after-treatment retrofits.
The Remora system is designed to capture up to one ton of CO₂ per hour at locomotive scale and could help operators achieve EPA Tier 4 emissions standards. The initiative is part of PHL’s broader efforts to lower emissions and explore alternatives to conventional decarbonization strategies in freight rail.
