DB Cargo Italia is currently in the process of implementing a switch from diesel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel. All diesel-powered locomotives of the company will switch to HVO by the end of the summer. According to DB Cargo, HVO represents a more environmentally friendly and renewable alternative to fossil fuels.
The Italian subsidiary of DB Cargo will run all of its diesel-powered locomotives on HVO, a biofuel obtained from the hydrocracking and hydrogenation of vegetable oil. The company will finish the implementation during summer. In practice, the change means that twelve diesel locomotives, used for both line and shunting operations, will make the change to HVO.
DB Cargo Italia has been testing the use of the plant-based fuel at its shunting stations in Cervignano and Brescia. The tests were successful enough to prompt the company to implement the switch throughout the country.
The pros and cons
“The primary difference between diesel and HVO is that the latter is not a fossil fuel”, explains Emanuele Vender, managing director at DB Cargo Italia. “HVO is renewable and also contributes to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. And because the chemical composition is also similar, our existing diesel engines can run on it.”
Vender explains that DB Cargo Italia incurs similar costs for using HVO as it would for using diesel. Performance-wise, HVO also shows comparable results: “It might be a couple of percentage points lower, but it is a negligible difference”, says Vender.
However, it is not as easy to get your hands on HVO when compared with diesel. “You need the right supplier with the right type of HVO. It ’is not as simple as with diesel”, Vender explains. Nevertheless, DB Cargo Italia intends to stick with HVO in the long term. “It is worth it for the environmental benefits. Despite rail cargo already being the most socially sustainable transport mode, at DB Cargo we always try to improve this aspect further”, says Vender.
Experiments
DB Cargo Italia is not the first DB Cargo subsidiary that has tested HVO as an alternative to diesel. Other DB Cargo subsidiaries and rail operators have also tested HVO as an alternative to diesel. These trials mirror a broad effort to look for more environmentally friendly fuels while maintaining operational efficiency.
Earlier, DB Cargo tested HVO at shunting locations in Bremerhaven and Munich. The Dutch north east also saw DB Cargo experiments with HVO, as well as DB Cargo UK, which tested HVO on a Class 60 locomotive. Similarly, Colas Rail also experimented with HVO in the UK.
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