Biofuel-powered locomotives have been circulating since last year in Minas Gerais. They are part of an experimental fleet of locomotives produced by General Electric Transportation in the city of Contagem. The tests have begun last year and will continue until May 2013, said the president of the company for Latin America, Guilherme Segalla de Mello.
Our customers want an alternative and also want to be sure that they can maintain the performance level using biomass-derived fuel.
The tested locomotives are using a mixture of 25% biofuel (extracted from palm and castor oil, for example) and 75% regular diesel. The benefit would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and have a source of energy that in the future may have sufficient scale to be a much more affordable than petroleum products.
Today, about one third of the costs of the companies that transport by railroads are related to operating costs and fuel.
Many companies are investing in tests and surveys such as GE, says Mello. But we are the more advanced. In addition to biodiesel, the company also has begun to research the use of natural gas in its machines.
The company is a leader in Brazil – the only country besides the U.S. where it has a locomotive plant. By the early 2000s, 50% out of the 2,000 locomotives in Brazil were GE locomotives, and 50% were EMD locomotives, of GM. The competitor ceased to operate in the country and, according to the executive, in 2010, 2,000 out of the 3,000 locomotives in Brazil had the GE brand. The new competitor of the manufacturer in the country, Caterpillar, bought the factory that was of EMD in 2010.
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