Belgium to test cooking oil for rail transport

Brussels – Cooking oil for locomotives, an even more revolutionary approach to low-carbon rail transport, is being tested in Belgium. Lineas, the largest private European operator in the sector, intends to replace diesel trains as soon as possible with new ones powered precisely by cooking oil, which is considered better than rapeseed oil in terms of eco-friendly performance.

The experimentation phase is underway and will continue until June to put as many “green” engines as possible on rail for non-electrified networks. The corporate goal of reducing the group’s total emissions by 42 per cent by 2030, for which cooking oil plays no small role, remains firm. Compared to conventional diesel locomotives, it is estimated that this particular fuel reduces CO2 emissions by about 85 per cent.

For the time being, the tests involve the commercial port of Ghent, where the first engine started running powered by FAME (an acronym for Fatty Acid Methyl Ester), the special biodiesel made from fatty acids of vegetable oil reacted in excess of methyl alcohol. The rail transportation revolution is made possible through a collaboration with Cargill, an agro-industrial group that decided to bet on this particular Green Deal-proof solution.