Hot on the heels of e-diesel, Audi has just created a new type of synthetic fuel that doesn’t require petroleum in the manufacturing process.
Collaborating with Global Bioenergies, Audi’s newest batch of synthetic fuel is known as “e-benzin.” Rated at 100 octane, e-benzin contains no sulphur or benzine, and as a result, burns cleanly. Not only that, its high octane rating allows engines to use higher compression ratios, resulting in far better efficiency.
Reiner Mangold, Audi’s head of Sustainable Product Development, says this is one of the many steps the German automaker will take to develop carbon-dioxide and non-fossil fuel.
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“Global Bioenergies has demonstrated the viability of the Audi ‘e-benzin’ production process,” Mangold said in a press release. “That is a big step in our Audi e-fuels strategy.”
Along with e-benzin and e-diesel, Audi is working on something called ‘e-gas’, essentially synthetic methane developed for industrial-scale customers, as well as e-ethanol.
In the meantime, Audi will begin testing e-benzin in laboratories and engines, while Global Bioenergies will look at modifying e-benzin so it can be made out of only water, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and sunlight. By 2016, both companies hope to produce e-benzin in larger batches.
