Indian railways implements plan for creation of biofuel plantations
Part of India's colonial legacy is its vast railway network, the largest in the world. Millions of Indians depend on trains to get to work each day. But high fuel costs are becoming a burden on this form of public transport which keeps India's economy on the go.
This is why the Indian railways announced they will start implementing their transition to relying on locally produced biofuels. As part of a test-programme, India recently started using biodiesel in trains servicing two busy lines in the state of Chhattisgarh (earlier post).
The railways have now begun floating expressions of interest to farmers, cooperative societies and other organisations to spur the growth of oil crop plantations on 40,000 hectares of the railways' wasteland, aimed at the production of biodiesel.
According to Anirudh Gautam, head of the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) at the Ministry of Railways, the institution has already created a special public-private partnership cell for this purpose. Speaking at an Assocham seminar on Future Energy Options, Gautam said:
“About 2 billion litres of diesel fuel are consumed annually by nearly 4,000 freight and passenger locomotives. The annual expenditure of the Indian Railways on diesel fuel is about €745/US$984 million. Biodiesel, blended with petro-diesel, can serve as an alternate fuel to help the railways save a good amount of money."
The Indian railways would become the largest buyer of biodiesel in the country:
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: railways :: India ::
They currently operate operate around 400 diesel locomotives and around 100-120 are added to the fleet every year. With increased biodiesel use, the railways will not only bring operating costs down but also lower pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The railways have already signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation, offering it 500 hectares of land for cultivating Jatropha Curcas. About 80 hectares are under a plantation which is expected to start yielding oil from 2008 onwards.
According to Gautam, biodiesel can be used in medium-speed diesel engines with a blend of 10% biodiesel and 90% petro-diesel.
This is why the Indian railways announced they will start implementing their transition to relying on locally produced biofuels. As part of a test-programme, India recently started using biodiesel in trains servicing two busy lines in the state of Chhattisgarh (earlier post).
The railways have now begun floating expressions of interest to farmers, cooperative societies and other organisations to spur the growth of oil crop plantations on 40,000 hectares of the railways' wasteland, aimed at the production of biodiesel.
According to Anirudh Gautam, head of the Research, Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO) at the Ministry of Railways, the institution has already created a special public-private partnership cell for this purpose. Speaking at an Assocham seminar on Future Energy Options, Gautam said:
“About 2 billion litres of diesel fuel are consumed annually by nearly 4,000 freight and passenger locomotives. The annual expenditure of the Indian Railways on diesel fuel is about €745/US$984 million. Biodiesel, blended with petro-diesel, can serve as an alternate fuel to help the railways save a good amount of money."
The Indian railways would become the largest buyer of biodiesel in the country:
biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: jatropha :: railways :: India ::
They currently operate operate around 400 diesel locomotives and around 100-120 are added to the fleet every year. With increased biodiesel use, the railways will not only bring operating costs down but also lower pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
The railways have already signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian Oil Corporation, offering it 500 hectares of land for cultivating Jatropha Curcas. About 80 hectares are under a plantation which is expected to start yielding oil from 2008 onwards.
According to Gautam, biodiesel can be used in medium-speed diesel engines with a blend of 10% biodiesel and 90% petro-diesel.
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