This is major...
Audi has successfully made diesel fuel from carbon dioxide and water - ScienceAlert
and
https://www.audi-mediaservices.com/p...he_future.html

Regarding lubricity from Chief Technical Officer, Christian von Olshausen:

"The properties are really good as it doesn't contain any aromatics, this means it burns soot free, as it has a straight molecular chain leading to a high so-called Cetane number."

Blue diesel is also claimed to burn cleaner and with better combustion than existing dino-diesel, leading to a smoother running engine, with zero sulfur emissions.

 

That's pretty big news there Big!

 

Hope it works out. I am all for environmentally friendly fuel. Especially ones that let me keep my diesel truck.

I wonder what the CFPP and gel point is.

I liked running B20 when I could. Unfortunately, I can't do that in Alaska. Too cold.

 

This would be a huge step forward in economy. If vehicle manufacturers could build a vehicle that would only burn a carbon free fuel there would be no need for the emissions equipment resulting in better fuel economy, fewer mechanical failures in emissions equipment, and something I'd definitely be onboard with buying. Deleted vehicles right from the manufacturer.

 

This could really help with our dependence on oil. I didn't see anything about how this would do in older mechanically injected diesels from days of old.

 

That would be a step in the future to take. Test it on older IDI type diesels.

From what I got out of the article the only car in the world running the fuel is one Audi vehicle.

Assuming Audi didn't have to make any adjustments to that car to get it to run this new fuel, that would be a good sign towards being able to run it in every other diesel vehicle out there. At least one can only hope.

 

If it ever becomes avalibile I'd try to find an old VW 1.6L IDI diesel and try it out in a 1.9L TDI and a common rail diesel. But I wonder since it has water in it how it'll do on fuel stations holding tanks and how susceptible it is to moisture. At the current exchange rate at €1.50 is about $1.68, so we'd only be paying maybe $1.68 or so per gallon of this diesel. I know currently diesel here is $2.77 per gallon and its all bio-diesel around a B10-B15 rating as of 2009 (which is being disputed because most vehicles on the road circa 2009 were not rated much more than B5 and that has caused a lot of expensive repairs because it voided all warranty).

 

It is $1.68 per Liter, so 3 x $1.68 for a gallon. But Audi priced it to be comparable to diesel fuel costs in the UK - who knows what it will be in the U.S. I can only assume they would want to be competitive here. No one is going to buy $6.00 a gallon Audi Diesel when #2 is $2.77 at the pump.

BioDiesel is great on modern motors, sucks on the older ones. The hoses can't handle the cleaning properties of it. And it really cleans out old tanks and lines. Better than parts cleaner. I know someone that uses it to soak and rebuild their lycoming motors because B99 is much better (and eco-friendly) than parts cleaner.

Audi Diesel is made by splitting water, not sure it contains water. But I do wonder if it is more or less hydroscopic than #2. Bio is more hydroscopic than #2 as an example. Ethanol is also more hydroscopic than regular "Gasoline". (For those that do not know, Hydroscopic means attracts and absorbs water).

A lot is needed for Audi to prove it has a good alternate fuel. I hope that they are successful.

On a side note, even though I really don't like their cars and I really don't like their "sister" company VW. Which I am torn between since I do like their diesel engines, it is the dealers and manufacturer reps that suck. It's weird since I had a Volvo at a combined Volvo / VW dealer and we never had an issue with Volvo service, but the VW side was awful and other dealers in my area were just as bad. The last straw was when the manufacturer rep lied to us repeatedly...

 

Here's the article I was referencing Truckers sue to end biodiesel mandate | Star Tribune I knew they used liter just forgot to round it over. I have heard bio isn't 100% as clean as #2 because of higher NOx but not by much and it has a slightly lower BTU rating in some cases, but has higher lubrication properties that ULSD lacks. I haven't heard too many issues with like 7.3L PowerStrokes or even 12 valve Cummins engines running biodiesel let alone straight waste veggie oil.

Why do I get the feeling that an oil giant will buy this and keep it for themselves rather than letting it go on the world market?

 

A giant from the status-quo buying out and eliminating the competition or alternative is always a possibility...but in this case, the creator is also a giant (colossus really), albeit from the auto manufacturing industry...Audi and by extension VW.

My guess is that Audi/VW is all too familiar with this tactic. Don't see them giving away this kind of advantage for any amount of money, given that they don't need it and this break-through could potentially benefit their automobile design, development and progress, as well as their market position significantly.

 

Well as long as they can at least meet up with demands for diesel fuel in Europe and can maybe start production here in the states, I think we can maybe see less emissions being put on diesels in the future if they make it a mandatory fuel, maybe we could see diesel reliability make a come back.