Steaming Ahead to a Better Fuel: Railroad Companies Investigate Benefits of Using Biodiesel-Blended Fuels

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) The railroad is already considered one of the most environmentally sustainable and efficient ways to transport freight. Although most railways address fuel efficiency in terms of gallons-per-mile rather than miles-per-gallon, the sheer volume of cargo that can be moved by a single train results in a highly efficient operation.

...Most locomotive engines in the U.S. are powered by diesel, and the fuel they use to transport freight is not insignificant.

...(E)ven a 2 billion gallon market represents the opportunity to blend 100 million gallons of biodiesel into a B5 blend, or 400 million gallons of biodiesel into a B20 blend of fuel.

Some railroads are beginning to recognize the benefits associated with employing a renewable fuel in their operations. In fact, Amtrak and BNSF Railway Co. are each participating in long-term B20 trials.

...The data gathered by the trial could ultimately be used to support the establishment of a biodiesel mandate for locomotive fuel. “We are hopeful that in the future there will be some sort of [renewable fuel] mandate in the railway industry,” (Nestor) Soriano (Jr., lead research scientist at MSU-N’s Bio-Energy Center) said. “We want to identify the challenges that the railroad industry may face should that mandate come in…Hopefully, [if and when that mandate] is established, BNSF and others in the railway industry will have this data so they can be ready.” READ MORE