Audi have made 'diesel' from completely renewable sources

[callmedave]

http://www.sciencealert.com/audi-have-successfully...

All the news on this seems a little vague but if true its carbon neutral and could bring the price of 'regular diesel' down.

They say this new fuel can be run mixed with diesel or run as a fuel in its own right.


Exciting if its true, but whats your opinions on this?

[Stu R]

I couldn't get beyond the name of the person whose Audi is being used to test it.

More seriously, if it's scaleable, that's a massive leap forward if they release any patents etc.

[Super Slo Mo]

It looks like it's another take on the 'liquid battery' idea. Essentially it takes far more energy to make the fuel than is recoverable in an engine, but it's a handy way of utilising all that spare renewable energy

The big downside is that water is a scarce resource in most of the world, even in little old Britain we rely on ancient water sources to top up our drinking water requirements.

[anonymous-user]

If true its all very clever, however it sounds very very energy intensive (so called green sources or not). If you are going to the efort of making hydrogen, why not just stop there?

[callmedave]

Stu R said:

I couldn't get beyond the name of the person whose Audi is being used to test it.

More seriously, if it's scaleable, that's a massive leap forward if they release any patents etc.

Johanna wka - seems like something Sniffpetrol would come up with.

[DonkeyApple]

Breaking the bonds between oxygen and hydrogen in a water molecule requires quite a bit of electricity.

My first thought is that it would be hard pressed for the primary process alone to be cost effective against distillation.

[callmedave]

MonkeyMatt said:

If true its all very clever, however it sounds very very energy intensive (so called green sources or not). If you are going to the efort of making hydrogen, why not just stop there?

infastructure!

Make a new fuel that current cars and petrol stations can already use, big money saver.

Make a fuel that runs in a whole new engine, which needs new fuel depots and new health and safety measures put in place, big money spender!

[conkerman]

Fischer Tropsch is 90 year old technology.

Too expensive compared to boiling oil.

Marketing bks.