Indian Railways has decided to lower its carbon emissions and has been looking into liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fulfil its aims to cut down green house gas emissions.
This move will not only help Indian Railways cut down on CO2, but will also reduce the amount of money spent on diesel.
Indian Railways has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the country’s largest oil marketing firm, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to ‘tap into the potential’ of LNG in locomotives, workshops and factories.
According to a railway official, Indian Railways is currently using more than 250 crore litres of diesel every year, costing Rs 10,000 crore.
It is thought if the switch is made to LNG, Indian Railways could expect to save Rs 1,000 crore every year.
The implementation of LNG can be only done in phases, starting with industrial uses in factories, to usage in diesel multiple units and then in mainline diesel locomotives, a railway official said.
Previously, the storage needed for LNG and its transportation difficulties mean that the use of LNG has not ‘taken off in areas far from the Western coast’.
However, as the cryogenic cold chain has become more affordable, LNG can be used on a large scale.
A representative from Indian Railways said:
“Major savings in fuel cost are expected with Indian Railways switching over to LNG in a substantial manner.”
The company has already started using compressed natural gas (CNG) in its fleet of multiple diesel units and introduced bio diesel in the sector.
It has set up two bio diesel etherification plants with a capacity of 30 tonnes per day each are being set up to give a boost to adoption of this green fuel in locomotives.
The deal between Indian Railways and IOC will ‘act as a catalyst’ in the Indian industry towards adoption of LNG as a primary fuel.
