Train rides are always fun and give you the chance to see the sights and feel like you’re on an adventure. The Amaterasu Railway in Japan makes you feel just like that. It takes about 30 minutes and has some of the most beautiful views in Miyazaki Prefecture, such as Japan’s highest train bridge. But the train also has a few other things that make it different from any other. The pink and white cars and the bubbles blown by the train conductors are fun, but the most interesting thing about the train is that it runs on a type of biodiesel fuel made from things like leftover ramen broth. My Modern Met says that because of the ramen broth, the train smells good and does less damage to the mountains and rice fields it goes through.
Biodiesel is a fuel for diesel engines that is made from vegetable oil or animal fat. It can be used instead of fossil fuels. In the U.S. and Europe, vegetable oils from rapeseed, canola, or soybeans are used to make biodiesel. The Japanese, on the other hand, use old cooking oil and even food scraps.
90% of the biodiesel that Amaterasu Railway uses comes from cooking oils like tempura oil and other cooking oils, according to reports. The last 10% comes from the broth in tonkotsu ramen. To make its fuel, the railway worked with Nishida Logistics, a transportation company that was one of the first to use a few types of biodiesel in its truck fleet. The company gets ramen broth from local restaurants and turns the fatty broth into biodiesel by separating the lard from leftover pork bone soup and then refining it in a special way. The only bad thing about this kind of biodiesel is that it can only be stored for a few months before it starts to go bad because of oxidation.
People say that the railroad company got interested in biofuel as a way to help the environment. Mid-June 2021 was when the first tests were done, and it was found that there was neither black smoke nor a strong smell of exhaust gas, which is common with diesel engines. Even when the track went uphill, the fuel kept the train going. The train has two cars and can carry up to 60 people without any trouble. Even though the fuel filters need to be changed often, the cost is said to be about the same as for regular fuel. On August 1, 2022, when the engines with new fuel started up, the platform smelled like stir-fried oil. Naoki Akimoto, a 38-year-old office worker from Osaka Prefecture, was impressed by the place. He went there with his family. He told The Mainichi, “It’s amazing that a sightseeing train can run on ramen soup,”
In other news, there were more cases of Coronavirus in Japan in December 2022, but planes and trains were packed with people going home for the New Year. Misako Aoki, who lives in Saitama and is 74 years old, told Japan Times, In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, I’m glad there is a feeling in the air that makes it easier to travel and go back to one’s hometown,” 74-year-old Saitama resident, Misako Aoki, told Japan Times.
Reports say that domestic flight reservations are back up to 80% of what they were three years ago. People booked more than 2.7 million flights. Also, shinkansen bullet trains and local trains have 16% more reservations from December 28 to January 5 than they did last year.