Kazakhstan Railways reveals measures to reduce harmful emissions

By Trend

Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ) NC JSC continues the policy to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere and consumption of energy resources, Batyr Kotyrev, chief engineer of KTZ, director of the technical policy department, told Trend.

According to Kotyrev, for this purpose, work is being carried out to reduce the carbon footprint together with Samruk Kazyna JSC. So, the Energy Transition Concept and the draft Action Plan until 2060 were developed.

"For the development and introduction of low-carbon technologies at KTZ NC JSC, it’s planned to develop a project for a battery shunting locomotive, a working group has been created, and draft roadmaps and terms of reference have been developed," he said.

Besides, according to him, it’s planned to introduce a pilot project for the use of liquefied natural gas on mainline locomotives, a roadmap has been developed and approved for the implementation of a pilot project for the transfer of diesel locomotives to gas motor fuel.

"The project envisions use of modernized diesel locomotives of the TE33AS series, which will be the first to run on liquefied natural gas with the use of a cryogenic capacity (tender railcar) for storing and transporting gas," the JSC’s representative said.

During the period of operation of locomotives running on LNG, the cost of purchasing diesel fuel is expected to decrease by 50 percent, Kotyrev stressed.

At the same time, the volume of LNG is 600 times less than in the gaseous state, which creates a real opportunity to use this type of fuel over long distances. The planned reduction of atmospheric emissions is up to 40 percent, the replacement of diesel fuel with gas is up to 70 percent, he noted.

"To achieve these goals, a special working group has been created with the involvement of representatives of KazMunayGas NC JSC and scientific centers," added Kotyrev.