German car manufacturer Audi has reportedly invented a carbon-neutral diesel fuel, made solely from water, carbon dioxide and renewable energy sources. And the crystal clear 'e-diesel' is already being used to power the Audi A8 owned by the country’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka.
The creation of the fuel is a huge step forward for sustainable transport, but the fact that it’s being backed by an automotive giant is even more exciting. Audi has now set up a pilot plant in Dresden, Germany, operated by clean tech company Sunfire, which will pump out 160 litres of the synthetic diesel every day in the coming months.
Their base product, which they’re calling 'blue crude' is created using a three-step process. The first step involves harvesting renewable energy from sources such as wind, solar and hydropower. They then use this energy to split water into oxygen and pure hydrogen, using a process known as reversible electrolysis.
This hydrogen is then mixed with carbon monoxide (CO), which is created from carbon dioxide (CO2) that’s been harvested from the atmosphere. The two react at high temperatures and under pressure, resulting in the production of the long-chain hydrocarbon compounds that make up the blue crude.
Once it's been refined, the resulting e-diesel can be mixed in with our current diesel fuel, or used on its own to power cars in a more sustainable way.
Okay I know, I KNOW, that this will not get anywhere near the attention as some of my previous posts.
But I have to reiterate folks that THIS is what is really important, and THIS is what should excite and inspire all of us.
Just take a minute to imagine what this kind of a breakthrough could mean for the future of this planet.
Less pollution, less raping of the planet, less money spent on energy, fewer reasons to go to war, and that is only the beginning.
I have said it before, but it bears repeating, this is an amazing time to be alive.
That is truly exciting news - cue the conservtive outraged howls in 3, 2, 1... After all, if we don't use up everything God provided us with on earth, it will make baby Jeebus sad and we can't have that, can we?
ReplyDeleteThe Koch brothers are shitting nickels.
ReplyDeleteLucky for us this is taking place in Germany and not the U.S. where the Kochs can buy it and suppress it.
DeleteOMG! This is such wonderful news!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds really promising. 160 liters a day is not much. I understand it's perfecting the process more than the quantity of output at this point, but Is that a typo?
ReplyDeleteIn chemical engineering you work out the process, and the kinks, as you move from lab scale to pilot scale to full industrial scale. That figure is probably accurate for pilot scale.
DeleteThere is no perfecting this process. They are simply using one of the many alternative fuel technologies out there- that are not efficient to process and likely never will be, in order to look green and appear future thinking to garner some good press. Car companies pull these schemes all the time. I really laugh at all you moronic IM posters that pretend to be all science-ey, and you all really don't know the first thing about 'science' or physics. Lol. "Uncle" Gryph leading you all down a path to no-where again.
DeleteThis synthesis of fuel is called the Fischer-Tropsch process and it's been known since 1925.
ReplyDeleteAudi did not invent it. It's been used before by the countries that could not procure enough fuel by other means (i.e., Nazi Germany during WWII).
Also, it's quite energy inefficient, meaning that you will spend way more energy than you'll be able to recover when you burn the fuel. The fuel you make will be much more expensive than producing fuel from oil.
If this were to be widely used, won't we be using our water supply up? I know I sound ignorant here, but what does this do to our dwindling fresh water supply? Does it pollute the water used? Can "gray water" be used?
DeleteI love the idea, I hope a way to make it efficient is found before it's too late.
Lot of smart people discussing this here:
Deletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/340278/audi_has_successfully_made_diesel_fuel_from/
6:53 Being from one of the driest states in the US (Nevada), that was my first thought as well. But, I too love the idea of this. Very exciting. Of course, the Koch's and Cheney's of the world will do everything possible to stop this.
DeleteLot of smart people discussing it here:
Deletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/340278/audi_has_successfully_made_diesel_fuel_from/
Fracking uses lots of fresh water to extract the crude and natural gas that we are using today. And, that water is mixed with a chemical brew that must be confined after use in pits and wells. There is good evidence that these processes are causing earthquakes in Oklahoma and Kansas and ruining water wells.
DeleteGood ol' fresh air, clean water, and sunshine....
RJ
Fracking is still being used in California, which is suffering the worst drought in the State's history. Residents are being forced to cut back their household water usage by at least 25%, but the oil industry...of course not. Who really runs this country? It certainly isn't the government.
DeleteThank you 6:39. For both highlighting that 'the future' is actually from the past, and that it was shelved long ago due to impracticalities as well as inefficiencies.
DeleteMost non-scientist/engineer types have no concept of 'energy', and the energy and resources used... just to create another form of energy. Every time energy is repackaged, there is loss along the way.
I imagine they are working on making the process more energy efficient. Plus the technology has advanced now so that solar, wind and even geothermal can keep the costs reasonable.
DeleteThere are some things for which a fuel such as gasoline or diesel cannot be practically replaced. For all others we should be using renewables. For those, we need to develop a renewable.
Good on Audi as long as it doesn't contribute more to global warming in the process and use of the product.
Audi and VW make great fun to drive diesel powered cars. This would seem to take clean diesel to a whole new level.
ReplyDeleteRJ in BBistan
Unfortunately, it's gonna take awhile for these idiots to get out of the dark ages...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/28/religious-serves-restraining-orders-justices-ginsburg-kagan.html
It's gonna take awhile for these idiots to WANT to get out of the dark ages...
DeleteThere. Fixed it.
In the 1970s someone from NASA spoke at my high school and I remember him holding up a glass of water and saying, "behold the fuel of the future." He said that we didn't have all the technology yet, but that "within our lifetimes", we would see cars essentially powered by water.
ReplyDeleteI remember a teacher telling us about this back in the 1960's?
ReplyDeleteThis is huge. Again Europe will leap-frog over "exceptional" America and lead the world in the area of sustainable fuels while Dumbfuckistan, USA protects the corporations and kills the planet.
ReplyDeleteThis is very exciting! The repubs will hate it though, and they will fight it because it can't buy lobbying power.
ReplyDeleteOl' Grumpy McCain can't get wooed and pampered and bribed for votes for this.
Thanks for posting!
Too cool!! I've said since High School (which was dog years ago for me) that Audi's are better "fancy" cars then Mercedes. This is just another reason that holds true. Oh,how the oil companies are going to be shitting bricks,and scurrying to try and own all the water rights around the world.Cause you know,profits,profits,profits...
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned above, this and other amazing renewable energy technologies exist. But because this doesn't make money the way traditional fuels do, the technology was suppressed, just like the Tesla electric car. Until we get "the market" out of our energy and food sectors, we will have very hard time getting out from under the thumbs of the Capitalists.
ReplyDeleteAir powered cars were created sometime in the mid-2000s. Now Peugeot and Tata (Indian manufacturer) are close to releasing them. Peugeot says sometime in 2016.
ReplyDeleteI believe the Tata used compressed air. And it wasn't terribly efficient, practical or successful if memory serves. They just wanted to run that stupid commercial where the guys point at the pretty girl standing next to the car and yell "Hey! Nice Ta-tas!"
DeleteReal mature.....
And your response is equally mature. Tata means 'clean' in Hindi. While they have had setbacks they are scheduled to release the first American model mid-2015.
DeleteIs this based on the type of fuel used for dirigibles in the 20s and 30s? Or was that pure hydrogen? If this can be perfected and is safe in a minor crash, it would be amazing--but I like others above, worry about the water supply (and the profiting off the shortage by Koch-like corporations in the future). I'm beginning to think, what with the way the wind has been increasing in this area over the past few years, that maybe what we'll need "down the road" are cars with sails.
ReplyDeleteHydrogen was used as the lifting mechanism not as a fuel. The propulsion was most likely from petroleum engines. This is simply a bit of a gimmick marketing by Audi based an on old synthesis process. See 6:39 above. All kinds of gimmicks are out there regarding fuel technology, they are mostly impractical, but they generate press.
Delete6:39 Did you lift that comment from the reddit site? I saw the exact same comment there. Maybe it's you and you post on IM as well? I suppose it doesn't really matter, just curious.
ReplyDelete"The two react at high temperatures and under pressure"
ReplyDeleteThere's the key right there. Takes lots of energy to do those things. Hard to wind up with net power output. Often turns out it's much more efficient to use the original electricity from renewable energy sources to directly power the end use device or equipment instead of a Rube Goldberg operation to blurp out "blue goo" or "blue crude" or whatever they want to call it.
My first thought was, "I want this for my car right now!" But my second thought was how much energy (the old dirty kind) is needed for the heat and pressure used to create this?
ReplyDeleteEthanol. Blended gasoline. Ford Flex Fuel etc. Farm/Corn lobby. That was the fuel scam that greatly profited the State of Iowa, the farmers etc. Price of land and corn went high as an elephant's eye. Low gas prices and ethanol prices and demand dropped. MPG's declined with the blended gas also too. Rusted fuel systems happened in some vehicles. Land prices have dropped along with the price of corn.
DeleteCorn flakes, cow chow, or fuel?
RJ
Uh oh. I suddenly feel…thirsty. Very, very thirsty. Maybe it's my parched descendants, already begging for the clean, cool water which would have been their inheritance...
ReplyDeleteI wish more of my taxes would go to scientific research.
ReplyDeleteWell, make these vehicles already!!!!
ReplyDeleteI want my big deully back. ? Cant spell.
Amazing technology! I've always driven a diesel jetta until last year, when they came out with the diesel gulf. Volkswagen is the "peoples" version (affordable/cheap), but the Audi tech is still the same. My husband's diesel gets about ten miles less per tank.
ReplyDeleteThe only other car available that I'd love is a Tesla, but I can't afford one.