Despite its presence on the highway is still not so many,
but the electric car is believed to be the future of the automotive world,
especially when viewed from the energy consumption and environmental
sustainability - electrical energy is not only renewable, but also produces no
carbon emissions.
Almost all major automotive manufacturers now have created
electric cars, including Audi, which recently showed off their electric-powered
supercar, the R8 e-tron. Nevertheless, Audi still continues to look for other
alternative energy sources that can be utilized by the automotive industry.
Working closely with a firm named Sunfire, both have
succeeded in developing a water-fueled diesel engine technology, which is
called e-diesel. The research is considered quite successful, and the
production stage has already started a few days ago.
To make it easier to understand, e-diesel is simply a
synthetic fuel made from water and carbon dioxide (CO2) as a raw material. CO2
supply is taken directly from the surrounding air by using technology made by
Audi partner, Climeworks.
E-diesel production process involves several steps. First,
the electrical energy is used to heat the water until it reaches a temperature
of 800 degrees Celsius. The water will be automatically turned into steam, and
then split into hydrogen and oxygen through a high-temperature electrolysis
method.
Furthermore, the hydrogen will react with CO2 supply
collected earlier. Both compounds are synthesizing in high pressure and
temperature, and ultimately produce liquid called blue crude. This liquid is
then processed further into e-diesel.
If talking about burning, e-diesel is believed to be more
efficient than regular diesel, and contains no sulfur or hydrocarbons.
Currently, e-diesel is still mixed with regular diesel to be able to operate,
but in the future, e-diesel will be able to operate independently.
Audi e-diesel project has received a support from the German
Ministry of Research. In the next few months, Audi and Sunfire plan to produce
more than 3,000 liters of e-diesel.
Besides the e-diesel, Audi is actually quite active in
developing synthetic fuels. Previously they have been producing synthetic gas
fuel (methane). In addition, Audi also invited an American company, Joule, to
produce e-diesel and e-ethanol by utilizing microorganisms.
In the end, the development of such technologies is intended
to address the problem of limited supply of traditional fuels. You may not have
been able to fill the gas tank with water directly, but at least we recognize
that the option of alternative energy sources will continue to grow from time
to time.