The next step is to refine the production process to create large quantities of synthetic “e-ethanol” and “e-diesel” for use in cars.
Audi says e-fuel is superior because of its purity. Unlike fossil fuels, which vary in composition depending on their place of origin, synthetic fuels contain no olefins or aromatic hydrocarbons. This optimizes combustion and results in fewer emissions.
Audi has been producing e-fuels at a research facility in Hobbs, New Mexico, through a partnership with Joule, a firm that specializes in developing synthetic fuels with solar energy. At the facility, genetically engineered photosynthetic microorganisms are kept in water (which could be brackish, salt or wastewater). They metabolize carbon dioxide after being exposed to sunlight and produce fuel as a byproduct. Audi tested its new synthetic "e-fuel" in an engine with a small glass window so that engineers could observe the combustion process. (Credit: Audi)
Audi tested its new synthetic “e-fuel” in an engine with a small glass window so that engineers could observe the combustion process. (Credit: Audi)
The e-fuel tests, conducted at Audi’s research and development facility in Ingolstadt, Germany, focused on the combustion process.
One test simulated conditions inside an engine using a pressure chamber, and a camera recorded how the synthetic fuel behaved. Another test used an engine with a small quartz glass window so engineers could see how the synthetic fuel interacted with the airflow in the combustion chamber.
“We now know that our e-fuels are the same as or even better than conventional fuels,” Reiner Mangold, head of sustainable product development at Audi, said in a report that the company published.
Mangold said the tests also demonstrate that electric power is not the only option for making cars more environmentally friendly. “There are other concepts that permit long-distance, low-emission driving,” he said. (Aston Martin, which is exploring the use of hydrogen power in its cars, makes a similar point here.)
Audi did not offer any estimate as to when synthetic fuel might be ready for sale to consumers.
Joule says on its website that the method it uses for creating synthetic fuels is better than other methods that use agricultural or algal biomass, such as corn or fibers from plants, because no arable land, fresh water or crops are required.
Once the technology is fully commercialized, Joule aims to produce 25,000 gallons of synthetic ethanol and 15,000 gallons of synthetic diesel per acre annually, for as little as $1.28 per gallon and $50 barrel, excluding subsidies.
fyi
Once the technology is fully commercialized, Joule aims to produce 25,000 gallons of synthetic ethanol and 15,000 gallons of synthetic diesel per acre annually, for as little as $1.28 per gallon and $50 barrel, excluding subsidies.
$1.28 per gallon. That’s before taxes.
What sounds familiar
German
Hydrogen
think the Hindenburg
If I had a garage for the machine to sit in, I could collect used vegetable cooking oil from 2 or 3 restaurants and use it to power my diesel car, after processing it, at a cost of about eighty cents a gallon.
Ethanol is not a very good motor fuel as it is not energy dense. Compared to gasoline ethanol has about 40% less energy by volume. This means fewer miles per gallon and less range on a tank of fuel. The synthetic ethanol would have to be very cheap to make the cost per mile comparable to using gasoline in a vehicle that gets 30-40 mpg.
25,000 gallons a year, per Acre...........
How many cars for 1 year, per Acre.........would depend on how you drive. 12,000 miles per year, @ 25 MPG, 480 Gallons per year = 1 Car....= 1 ACRE could power 52 Cars per year.
Someone know how man cars in the USA, we could see if we had enough land.........LOL
Let a thousand flowers bloom. A different fuel station on each corner.
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I'm down wid dat.
Has PETA taken a position on this senseless slaughter of billions of innocent animals?
Uhhhh. Haven’t we been told for generations that oil IS the result of micro-organisms??? Heaven forbid oil is a naturally occurring substance and renewable.