Could You Fuel Your Delivery Trucks on Ramen Fat?
by Sarah Neish (The Drinks Business) Japanese companies are using biodiesel fuel made from discarded lard from cooking ramen noodles to power their vehicles. — At last week’s Green Awards ceremony, the drinks business applauded one drinks partnership for swapping diesel for vegetable oil to power its delivery trucks. The change, made by EV Cargo Patrners and AB InBev, gave an immediate 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions on some of its delivery routes.
Now a Japanese train company has revealed it is using fat left over from cooking ramen noodles and Tempura to fuel its journeys.
Takachiho Amaterasu Railway, which operates in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, began trialling the alternative fuel solution in June 2022 using a ratio of 9:1 discarded tempura oil and lard extracted from ramen broth and refined with chemicals.
Prior to this, ramen biofuel had been pioneered by Nishida Shoun, a trucking company based in Shingu in Fukuoka City, which refines 3,000 litres of the noodle broth daily to power its 170 trucks operating in western Japan.
When testing out the ramen fuel, the rail company reported that the train had no probems in climbing steep slopes, for which increased fuel is usually required, and that there was an absence of black smoke or the strong smell of exhaust gas usually present in diesel-run engines. However, workers did highlight a smell of “stir-fried oil”, similar to that which you might find in a restaurant. READ MORE
