Audi has experimented with synthetic diesel fuel for years, and now it’s expanding its research in this field. The automaker will open a new pilot facility in Switzerland to create the fuel that uses water, air, and electricity as raw materials.
Here’s how it works. First, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen through the process of electrolysis. While the oxygen dissipates into the surrounding air, the hydrogen reacts with C02 from the air with the help of microprocess technology, forming long-chain hydrocarbon compounds. Once these compounds are separated, you have Audi e-diesel.
The upcoming plant will have the capacity to produce 105,669 gallons of the synthetic fuel per year. Audi is partnering with Ineratec, a chemical reactor tech company, and Energiedienst AG, an electricity company, on the project. Construction on the new facility will begin early next year.
Since 2014, Audi has been working on synthetic diesel in a facility in Dresden, Germany, with its partner, an energy tech company called Sunfire. This old facility creates synthetic diesel using the same principles, but different technologies. Audi says the new plant in Laufenburg, Switzerland, can produce e-diesel in compact units, making it very economical.
Of course, lab-made fuels are nothing new. But Audi’s ability to use renewable energy to get there is a solid achievement, and perhaps it can shift society’s now skeptical view of diesel. Audi says e-diesel has the potential to make traditional combustion engines operate almost C02-neutrally. That means the fuel results in nearly no net release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
In addition to e-diesel, Audi is also making synthetic methane for the A3, A4, and A5. It has a facility in Werlte, north Germany, for making this fuel, known as Audi e-gas.
Source: Audi
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