Europorte and Saipol united to decarbonize railways with Oleo100

8 June 2021, 17:45 – Europorte, the railway freight subsidiary of Getlink, and Saipol, a subsidiary of the Avril group, announce that they have signed a trial agreement for the use of Oleo100, B100 type fuel derived entirely from French rapeseed, in commercial services. In real conditions, the trials will be carried out for a period of 3 months from 6 July on railway traffic generated by Saipol for the transport of vegetable oils and renewable energy on the lines linking Nogent-sur-Seine (10) and Dunkerque (59), as well as Nogent-sur-Seine and Sotteville-lès-Rouen (76).

The aim of this experiment is to replace part of the Off-road Diesel Oil of the internal combustion locomotives that Europorte uses on non-electric sections, by Oleo100, energy produced by Saipol, in Stadler locomotives. Oleo100 is the first, renewable and biodegradable fuel and guarantor of co-production of local plant proteins for livestock feed. Its use, as an alternative to Off-Road Diesel Oil, reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 60% across the entire fuel life cycle, from field to rail.

Thus, as part of an experimental route estimated at 1,500 km a week, 35 tonnes of CO2 will be saved weekly by the locomotive that will provide this traffic.

Europorte will be the first private operator of rail freight to use this local and immediately substitutable alternative for diesel oil in real conditions.

The data to be collected during the experiment will be analysed by the partners to determine the compatibility of Oleo100 as a replacement of fuel in the operation of Euro4000 diesel locomotives by Europorte.

At the end of this experiment, if conclusive, Europorte could commit to using Saipol Oleo100 fuel used in its Stadler locomotives to reduce the Group’s carbon footprint by around 2,500 tonnes of GHG (Scope 1).