President and General Director of PT KAI Edi Sukmoro (right) signs a memorandum of understanding on the development of B100 biodiesel-fueled locomotive at the commemoration of the 74th anniversary of PT KAI (Source:https://kalsel.antaranews.com) Jakarta (VNA) - State-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Persero is working with private logistic railway service firms Servo Railway and Progress Rail for designing locomotives run on B100 biodiesel.
The cooperation is part of the Indonesian Government's plan to step up palm oil-based fuel consumption for domestic transportation.
In a recent statement, President and General Director of KAI Edi Sukmoro said his firm is targeting the goal as Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers of biofuel.
KAI signed a memorandum of understanding on designing and manufacturing locomotives fully compatible with the B100 biodiesel.
Meanwhile, Servo Railway founder Widhi Hartono revealed that for its initial cooperation project, the parties will conduct a feasibility study for technical and economic aspects.
In the framework of the project, Servo will cooperate with US-based company Progress Rail, a subsidiary of infrastructure company Caterpillar to support the Indonesian Government’s policy to develop B100 biodiesel for use in locomotives, he said.
The study will be conducted for a year, and based on its result, the cooperation can be intensified to locomotive manufacturing.
B100 is a diesel fuel containing 100 percent fatty acid methyl esters from crude palm oil (CPO).
The biodiesel programme was initiated by the Indonesian Government in 2018 with the aim of promoting palm oil consumption in the domestic market, and contributing to reducing air pollution in cities./.
VNA
