Given the current price of oil, it is easy to imagine that there are no great incentives to adopt other energy sources, but the trend indicates the opposite. Solar and wind alternatives are becoming increasingly economical, and from their abundance projects such as Audi’s E-Diesel can be developed, which, by using a renewable source, manages to combine hydrogen and carbon monoxide to form synthetic diesel.
A balance no one wants to calculate
This is a balance that nobody wants to calculate. The drop in oil prices is the result of higher production, a fall in demand, and an increase in the use of alternative energies. For many, it is good news, but any loss of profitability is automatically converted into layoffs. The historical and absolute dominance of oil has become “almost” absolute, and now there are new elements in the equation that, over the years, will need to find a way to balance out. Slowly, people are realizing that there are other options besides the gas station, and this also extends to companies like Audi. The fuel consumption optimizations for their cars are well documented, but through a plant in Dresden managed by the company Sunfire, the manufacturer has begun producing synthetic diesel.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/55Edq_IrstkHow E-Diesel is made
Some of the chosen terms are “blue crude” or simply E-Diesel, and to commemorate the production of the first liters, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, filled the tank of her Audi A8 with the new product. Now, how is this fuel created? It all begins with a renewable energy source, whether solar, wind, or another compatible variant. This energy is used to extract hydrogen from water via electrolysis, and to process carbon dioxide captured directly from the air, converting it into carbon monoxide. The combination of hydrogen and carbon monoxide (with water as a byproduct) forms the aforementioned blue crude, which, after refining, becomes E-Diesel ready to be used as a direct substitute for traditional diesel. The absence of sulfur in the mixture makes E-Diesel a cleaner fuel, and according to Sunfire, the entire process maintains an efficiency level close to 70 percent.
Challenges and outlook
Audi’s idea is good... as long as the energy used to power the process is 100 percent renewable. The Dresden factory currently uses biogas, so it is little more than a proof of concept. There is also the use of water to consider, since the hydrogen has to come from somewhere. Technically, we are looking at a more ecological variant of the Fischer–Tropsch process that has been with us for 90 years, and which is being applied around the globe, especially in South Africa, where Sasol develops “coal-to-liquid” and “gas-to-liquid” methods. Could E-Diesel change the market? Not in the short term, but if they find a way to produce it on a large scale, well...
