The diesel engines that power our locomotives are not just highly efficient power plants, they are also very versatile in the fuels they can use. Rudolf Diesel first conceived the engine that bears his name as running on powdered coal. A ruinous engine explosion taught him to value liquid fuels. He subsequently hit on the idea of using vegetable oil. The engine that he demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 ran on oil extracted from peanuts. The world has now come a full circle – after nearly a century we are once again exploring alternatives and looking to nature’s bounty for our fuels as Rudolf Diesel once did.

Alternative fuels are substantially non-petroleum and yield energy security and environmental benefits. The alternative fuel that we shall be discussing in this article is Biodiesel. Biodiesel blended with regular petroleum diesel fuel, as an alternate fuel for diesel engines, is currently attracting the attention of the Indian Railways. This attention stems from the fact that it is an alternative fuel, produced from domestic, renewable resources. Biodiesel contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with petroleum diesel to create a biodiesel blend. It can be used in compression-ignition (diesel) engines with no major modifications. Biodiesel is simple to use, biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

Approximately two billion litres of diesel fuel are consumed annually by the 4,000 freight and passenger locomotives in the Indian railway fleet. The prime mover in all but a few of these locomotives is the medium-speed diesel engine, having power levels ranging up to 4000 horsepower. The expenditure of Indian Railways on diesel fuel is Rupees 4400 crores. Diesel fuel is approximately 18 percent of railways’ total operating expenses. In view of the significance that diesel fuel has for the railways, alternate fuel sources and fuel management strategies are investigated regularly with the aim to reduce operating costs, enhance service performance, increase economic competitiveness and reduce the environmental impact.

This report addresses the applicability of biodiesel as a fuel for locomotives in India. A literature search was performed and the claims about biodiesel evaluated within the context of the Indian railway sector. An important caveat for consideration by the railway sector is that any alternate fuel must be widely available, yield energy security and to an extent should be price-competitive with petrodiesel.

When the consideration arises to try an alternate fuel, Railways have a checklist of factors to ask about. This report attempts to address all the implications of using biodiesel as an alternate fuel on the Indian Railways.

Read complete Report brought out by RDSO, Lucknow: Bio Diesel - The alternate fuel for Indian Railways

Usge of bio diesel should be welcomed. But care should be taken to prevent vanishing of paddy/ wheat fields and production of other edible items. Experiments should be made to produce bio diesel from locally available non edible seeds like Rubber seeds etc. available in large scale in certain regions of our country.

That is an awesome idea.That is so useful for reducing thpollution from the whole dorld.I think we should awake the whole world for using the 'Bio Diesel'.Please keep sharing information related to that.Thank you for this article..