Audi sets sights on ‘blue crude’ 

Source: By Douglas Perry, Portland Oregonian • Posted: Wednesday, April 29, 2015

German car manufacturer Audi has teamed up with alternative fuels company Sunfire to produce a synthetic diesel fuel from air, water and green electrical energy.

Dubbed “blue crude,” the fuel does not contain any sulfur or fossil oil but has an overall energy efficiency of 70 percent.

The fuel is created by harnessing renewable energy to split water into oxygen and pure hydrogen. The hydrogen is then mixed with carbon monoxide, which reacts at high temperatures and under pressure, creating the long-chain hydrocarbon compounds that make up blue crude.

The new fuel is being presented as a way to truly eliminate the environmental footprint of automobiles. Unlike electric cars, which draw energy produced by whatever fuel is generating electricity where they are plugged in, the blue crude is produced with renewable energy.

Sunfire executive Christian von Olshausen said the company “will be ready to commercialize our technology” if it gets its first sales order .

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