Biodiesel Trains on the Right Track

Some 580 trains in Brazil will be run on fuel that contains soybean oil, which is a renewable energy source and produces less pollution than fossil fuels.

RIO DE JANEIRO - Trains are joining the effort in Brazil to promote widespread consumption of what is known as biodiesel, and could jump-start a program that the country has been trying to implement for more than 20 years.

The company América Latina Logística (ALL), with 15,000 km of railroad in strategic areas like Argentina and southern Brazil, decided to replace a quarter of the petroleum-based fuel it consumes with biodiesel, which in this case is produced from soybean oil, a renewable and less polluting resource.

If all goes as planned, ALL will use 35 million liters of biodiesel a year in its 580 trains, "enough to make a fuel production plant feasible," says one of the heads of the project, Antonio Tomasi Filho, coordinator of ALL's supplies division.

The idea is to use B-20, a mix of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent standard diesel, which has shown comparable performance to pure petroleum derivatives in experiments.

In the coming three months, ALL will carry out field tests with two trains to study engine wear and tear and the residues generated by B-20.

ALL also operates 3,000 trucks, but opted to initiate the project with trains because of the great volume of fuel they consume, explained Tomasi.

In addition to creating demand that justifies industrial-scale production of biodiesel, distribution of the fuel is facilitated by the trains themselves, which means fewer supply points and easier implementation of the project.

The choice of soybean oil as the bio-component of the fuel is due to its abundance in Brazil, particularly in the south.

But biodiesel can be produced using any vegetable oil, and even animal fat. The University of Sao Paulo's Clean Technology Development Laboratory, whose research contributed to the ALL project, has conducted successful tests with 11 plant species, including cotton, sunflower, maize, peanut and palm.

The advantage is that whichever crop is produced locally can be used in producing biodiesel, benefiting the local farmers.

The fuel is produced in a reaction of the oil with methanol or ethanol, in a proportion of nine parts to one part.

Brazil is a major producer of sugarcane ethanol, which is a clean, renewable resource. Europe, where biodiesel use is more advanced, utilizes methanol derived from petroleum or coal, and therefore pollutes more, Jose Domingos Fontana, director of the Technological Institute of Paraná (TECPAR), told Tierramérica.

TECPAR, which is also working with ALL, found that B-20 used in buses in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba, capital of Paraná, produces 18 to 33 percent less pollution than conventional diesel.

Furthermore, it eliminates the aromatic hydrocarbons associated with diesel, which contribute to lung diseases and cancer, says Fontana.

Protecting the environment is the most obvious of the many Brazilian initiatives involving biodiesel. Its economic advantages have yet to be determined because the costs of industrial-scale production are not known, said Tomasi.

But the volume required for the ALL trains could turn out to be profitable, he said.

The potential benefits for Brazil are clear. The South American giant continues to import 15 percent of the 40 billion barrels of diesel it consumes annually. Cutting those imports would improve the trade balance and generate jobs, says Fontana.

Efforts to substitute petroleum derivatives with plant-based fuels began in the 1970s, when petroleum prices shot up, contributing to the foreign debt crisis and the stagnation of the national economy starting in the early 1980s.

Brazil has to import more than 80 percent of the petroleum it consumes, and the country's industrialization process is based largely on automobile manufacturing.

With greater awareness about the environment and of the social benefits of alternative fuels, the possibilities are immense and varied, says Fontana.

Production of soybeans, the only widely available oil-producing crop in Brazil, would have to be expanded 20 percent in Brazil to produce the two billion liters of biodiesel that the country would need if it implements a national program for a fuel mixture of just five percent (B-5).

But the sources of oil can be diversified and could help make small farms profitable in many regions, promoting economic and social development, said the expert. Furthermore, Brazil could become a leading exporter of renewable fuels.

* Mario Osava is an IPS correspondent.