Now, we already use B20 biodiesel, and we are preparing for the use of B30, B40, and B50 and progressing to B100Jakarta (ANTARA) - State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Persero is working with private logistical railway service firms Servo Railway and Progress Rail for designing locomotives run on B100 biodiesel.
The cooperation is a follow-up of the government's plan to step up palm oil-based fuel consumption for domestic transportation.
"We are targeting B100 as fuel oil, as we are one of the world’s largest producers of fuel oil. We have signed a memorandum of understanding and striven to engineer our assets to make it compatible with the B100 biodiesel," PT KAI's President Director Edi Sukmoro noted in a statement here on Monday.
B100 is a diesel fuel containing 100 percent fatty acid methyl esters from crude palm oil (CPO).
The MoU was inked on Saturday (Sept 28) during the commemoration of KAI's 74th anniversary in Bandung, West Java.
Sukmoro confirmed that the company has already used 20 percent blended biodiesel (B20) for its trains. It has conducted a trial on the use of B30 biodiesel and will gradually develop the asset to make it compatible with B100 biodiesel.
"Now, we already use B20 biodiesel, and we are preparing for the use of B30, B40, and B50 and progressing to B100. We have more than 200 trains," he stated.
In the meantime, Servo Railway founder Widhi Hartono revealed that for its initial cooperation project, the company will conduct a feasibility study for its technical and economic aspects.
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Servo Railway is a local company engaged in logistical railway transportation for coal.
Under the project, Servo will cooperate with US-based company Progress Rail, a subsidiary of infrastructure company Caterpillar.
"The idea was initiated by KAI's president director. Servo railway and Progress Rail will support the government's policy to develop B100 biodiesel for use in locomotives," he stated.
The study will be held for a year, and based on its result, the cooperation can be intensified to locomotive manufacturing.
The biodiesel program has been launched since last year to increase the consumption of palm oil in the domestic market in addition to lowering air pollution in cities.
Servo railway's Project Director Muhammad Hanafi remarked that the company is currently working on a construction project pertaining to railway transportation for coal spanning from Lahat District to Ogan Ilir District in South Sumatra,
"Servo railway will also use the B100-fueled locomotive to transport coal from Lahat to Ogan Ilir," Hanafi stated. Related news: High-speed railway construction to reach 59 percent before 2019-end
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Translator: Faisal Yunianto, Sri Haryati
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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