Diesel made from air and water
New formula for synthetic fuel: Air + water + wind/solar power = Blue CrudeGerman synthetic fuel manufacturer Sunfire, considered something of a pioneer in the field of high-temperature fuel cells and reversible electrolysers, has announced that the company succeeded in producing synthetic diesel from air, water and green electrical energy for the first time.
The clean-tech company has built a unique demonstration rig for power-to-liquids, which was inaugurated by the German Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, in November 2014.
Recently, the plant reached its full operating condition and now produces synthetic diesel fuel with apparently excellent eco-friendly properties. On behalf of the project partner Audi, an independent laboratory confirmed that the outstanding characteristics of the fuel are superior to the properties of fossil fuel.
Sunfire, one of the top 100 companies in clean-technologies worldwide, filled the Audi A8, used as official car by the Federal Minister of Education and Research Johanna Wanka, with a few litres of the synthetic fuel from the manufacturing plant in Dresden.
The new fuel is a synthetic diesel-distillate based on Blue Crude (hydrocarbons) that does not contain any sulphur or fossil oil and thus is particularly eco-friendly.
Sunfire-CTO Christian von Olshausen says: "The engine runs quieter and fewer pollutants are being created."
The scaleable power-to-liquids demonstration rig is said to be able to produce up to 160 l (42.2 gallons) of Blue Crude per day. In the next step a bigger plant should follow.
"If we get the first sales order, we will be ready to commercialise our technology," sunfire-CTO Christian von Olshausen says.
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