Biodiesel Powers Eastern Washington Railroad Locomotive
Most railroads have shown a reluctance to use a biodiesel blend in their locomotives, but the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad has decided to test the concept this summer.
The first biodiesel blend train pulled out of Creston last week, hauling 52 cars of wheat and 500 gallons of biodiesel in the locomotives saddlebag tanks. Officials are using a 25 percent blend of biodiesel in the tests.
The fuel is made by Columbia Bioenergy, located in Creston, which uses canola oil, restaurant grease, soy and other crops as feedstock.
The short-line railroad, which runs 109 miles between Cheney and Coulee City, Washington, plans to evaluate the experiment in about three months. Columbia Bioenergy is trying to determine if there is a market for biodiesel in locomotives.
The company produces 20,000 gallons of biodiesel a day and a byproduct of the process, glycerine which is being used for livestock feed. Graff Lyons, co-owner of the firm, said several governments and companies around the Northwest that have fleets of vehicles, use their product.
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Image Source: EWGRR
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Max, your stories are great. I hope everyone knows that they can subscribe to your RSS feed at http://greenoptions.com/author/maxlindberg/feed/
This is NOT the first train to run Bio-Diesel, Twin Cities and Western has run a Bio-diesel blend for many years.
http://www.tcwr.net/announcements.html
“TC&W’s fleet of eight locomotives has been upgraded with newer Generation II units featuring more fuel-efficient Caterpillar diesel engines, which can run on a blend of 5%biodiesel that is supplied locally by FUMPA Biofuels in Redwood Falls.”
[...] First Biodiesel-Powered Train Tested In Washington Most railroads have shown a reluctance to use a biodiesel blend in their locomotives, but the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad has decided to test the concept this summer.The first biodiesel powered train pulled out of Creston last week, hauling 52 cars of wheat and 500 gallons of biodiesel in the locomotive’s saddlebag tanks. Biodiesel Powers Eastern Washington Railroad Locomotive : Gas 2.0 [...]
So thats why grocery prices have sky rocketed! Makes me sick.
JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi
There is a relatively poor link between biodiesel and food prices. You can dive into that debate here: http://gas2.org/2008/04/11/biodiesel-myth-or-fact-23-biodiesel-is-raising-food-prices/
Only bio fuel that isn’t dependent on either current or future agricultural assets has any future in my eyes; especially with food prices already rising and the population increasing at an exponential rate…I’d prefer my farmers growing food to eat thank you very much!
There’s a difference between using biofuel to drive our cars to the mall and using biofuel to deliver food. The train was was hauling 52 cars of wheat(FOOD). Not everyone lives next door to a wheat farm; food needs to be delivered to population centers.