Europorte and InVivo choose Saipol’s green fuel to transport cereals
Since last week, another train can be seen on the tracks, fuelled by a plant-based biofuel. In France, the freight trains of Europorte on behalf of InVivo, a French agricultural group, will be fuelled by Oleo100, which is completely plant based. The green fuel, obtained from rapeseed harvested in France, is developed by Saipol, one of the biggest French processors of oilseeds.
The collaboration is between Europorte and Malteries Soufflet, a subsidiary of InVivo, that produces malt. The new fuel has been deployed since 1 March, as Europorte specified. The company charters around 100 trains a year for InVivo for the transportation of cereals, especially malt. Europorte serves InVivo’s facilities in Metz and Strasbourg, in northeastern France, and at the port of Rouen, in the north of the country.
The Oleo100 fuel will be implemented for locomotives running on capillary, non-electrified lines. As Europorte pointed out, the new initiative will save 60 to 80 per cent of CO2 compared to diesel, without significant modifications to the equipment. “On average, 1,300 Tons of CO2 should be saved per year”, commented Guillaume Couture, Managing Director of Malteries Soufflet.
Saipol-Europorte partnership for Oleo100
The collaboration between Europorte and Saipol for the use of Oleo100 fuel was launched in June 2021. The first tests were carried out for three months on two the rail routes. The first one between Dunkirk, in the northeast, and Nogent-sur-Seine, southeast of Paris. The second one is the section between Nogent-sur-Seine and Sotteville-lès-Rouen, near Rouen. The objective of the experiment was to provide green power on non-electrified rail sections.
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