April 12, 2006—The Dow Chemical Company announced it has extended its commitment to sustainability through the use of innovative hybrid technology to fuel locomotives at the company’s Freeport, Texas, facility. The use of this technology was made possible through a Dow partnership with the State of Texas and switching contractor RailServe.
Reducing fuel consumption from 30 to 50 percent, the hybrid locomotives were converted from traditional diesel locomotives and now use approximately one quart of oil per month, or 0.1 percent of the 220 quarts per week used by a conventional locomotive, explains Dow. The use of this equipment is expected to enable substantial fuel savings, reduced maintenance expenses, and extensive emissions and noise reduction at Dow’s largest production facility.
Dow took initial delivery of five 1,000-horsepower hybrid locomotives, called “Green Kids,” beginning in November 2005, and has an agreement for two larger 2,000-horsepower locomotives, or “Green Goats,” to be in operation at the facility by March 2007. The locomotives are used for switching, or inside-the-facility transport of shipments coming in or going out of plants.
Through the Texas Emissions Reduction Program (TERP), Dow worked with locomotive owner and switching contractor RailServe to secure a grant to convert the former diesel locomotives to hybrids. By agreeing to a five-year contract with its supplier, Dow helped RailServe meet a State requirement for the subsidy, facilitating the use of state money to help pay for the conversion costs of $500,000 to $750,000 per locomotive.
According to Dow, the locomotives were built by taking an old diesel locomotive with a sound base structure and completely rebuilding the top to accommodate batteries, a generator, and a small diesel engine. The diesel fuel in the engine is used by the generator to produce energy, which is then stored in the batteries and used to power the locomotive.
For more on the program, visit the Dow Web site.
