Lithuania’s LTG Group tests 100% renewable diesel in locomotives

Photo: LTG Group

The national state-owned railway company of Lithuania, LTG Group, recently announced that it has begun a pilot project to assess whether 100 percent renewable diesel, also referred to as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO100), is suitable and safe for continuous use in railway rolling stock.  

Over the next 18 months, the HVO100 will be tested on three rolling stocks, including the Pesa 730 passenger train.  

 Passengers traveling on this train at Vilnius Railway Station were also able to observe a unique experiment—to see how this fuel differs during combustion and how much less pollution is left by HVO100. 

HVO100 is made from 100 percent sustainably sourced renewable raw materials, such as used cooking oil and animal fats from food industry waste and residues.  

HVO is made from renewable feedstocks is significantly more sustainable, with up to 90 percent lower greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions over its life and consumption cycle compared to fossil diesel. 

This type of fuel is already used on the German, Dutch, Belgian and Italian railways. 

The test will become the basis for deciding whether clean diesel could be used more widely in LTG Group vehicles.  

The study will be monitored and evaluated by a team of scientists from Klaipėda University, performing a detailed analysis of fuels, engines and systems.