Iowa Interstate Railroad to test biodiesel; special railroad biodiesel update

In Iowa, the Iowa Interstate Railroad in Cedar Rapids, Iowa announced it has commenced testing B10 and B20 biodiesel blends supplied by Renewable Energy Group. As part of the study, REG, IAIS and Kansas University are measuring wear and tear on movable engine parts, horsepower ratings, and emissions.

In June 2009, IAIS began using a B10 blend in the Council Bluffs Yard. The blend level was increased to B20 beginning in September. In December, the locomotive will switch back to straight diesel fuel to complete the comparative analysis. After every fuel change, an engine analysis is done.

“We hope this biodiesel blend demonstration will serve as the tipping point for the rail industry’s use of renewable fuels. We expect to find reduced diesel particulate matter and carbon emissions as well as improved lubricity with the use of biodiesel,” explained REG’s vice president of customer and service technical, Myron Danzer. “We appreciate Iowa Interstate’s industry leadership and look forward to continuing to help reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil in partnerships like this one.”

“This partnership is fitting as IAIS serves several of the biodiesel plants in the REG network by transporting large volumes of our REG-9000TM biodiesel nationwide. For IAIS to burn the biodiesel they haul is a prime example of “going green,” Danzer added.

The railroad industry consumed 3.6 billion gallons of diesel fuel in 2007.

IAIS President & CEO Dennis H. Miller added, “Our company has been looking at biodiesel as an alternative to diesel fuel for some time. This could open the door for over 600 other railroads to have another source of fuel to use in their locomotives that burns cleaner and is environmentally friendly. It is also another value added market to Iowa farmers and the ag industry by providing another use for their products.”

Railroads and biofuels

In January, one of the first conversions of locomotives to biodiesel occurred at Disneyland, where five Disneyland Railroad trains were converted to biodiesel produced from waste vegetable oil from the resort’s restaurants and hotels. The company previously converted to biodiesel in a test during 2007, but abandoned the soy-based biodiesel test after supply issues and food vs fuel concerns emerged. The company said that it may convert to Mark Twain steamer and other park equipment to biodiesel.

In India, Indian Railways, the world’s largest railway system operator, has been using jatropha-based biodiesel in its locomotives. Biofuels Digest special correspondent Joelle Brink filed this special report last September. Plus, an update from June when the Southern Railway announced plans for a large scale biodiesel plant in Chennai (Madras), where the country’s biodiesel odyssey began.

In Washington state last fall, Tri-City & Olympia Railroad established a subsidiary, Green Diesel, to make biodiesel for the railroad. The subsidiary has established a 1 Mgy research plant in Richland that will produce fuels for use on the 127-mile railroad that uses 500 gallons of fuel per week for the 100 cars it runs on the line. The biodiesel plant is the first owned and operated by a railroad.

In June of last year, In Washington state, the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad conducted a three-month test of biodiesel for its 109-mile rail line between Cheney and Coulee City. The line is used for grain harvest transporatation. Soy, canola oil, grease, soy and other undisclosed feedstocks will be tested.

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