Volkswagen Tries Out Renewable and Synthetic Fuels

Volkswagen and Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world's leading agriculture processors and a leader in biofuels, have agreed to work toward furthering the development and use of biodiesel in the auto industry. This is a significant step forward for biofuels because of the size of the companies involved, ADM's major interest in this growing market, and VW's sizeable and growing use of advanced diesel engines in its product line.

Biodiesel is a cleaner burning fuel mixture made by combining conventional diesel fuel with natural or renewable resources such as canola or soybean oil. It offers environmental advantages including substantially reduced carbon monoxide and particulate matter (soot) emissions. Since it displaces a percentage of conventional diesel fuel being burned in vehicles, biodiesel could also serve to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.




In Europe, Volkswagen has also partnered with the Royal Dutch/Shell Group to demonstrate the viability of cars powered by synthetic fuel derived from natural gas. Over a five month period, 25 VW Golf hatchbacks powered by 100 horsepower TDI diesel engines were fueled by this clean-burning gas-to-liquids fuel. The aim was to prove out this fuel’s emissions-savings characteristics, which are claimed to be similar to that of compressed natural gas but at lower cost. Shell’s high-quality, ecologically acceptable diesel fuel is nearly free of sulfur and aromatics, providing significant environmental benefits. According to Volkswagen, using SMDS in a Jetta TDI engine results in 50% fewer particulates and 20% fewer NOx emissions than with conventional diesel fuel.

The synthetic fuel can be used in today’s engines and mixed with conventional diesel fuel. It’s also compatible with existing fuel distribution and storage systems. Also important, says Volkswagen, is that the fuel will support advanced powerplants like the company’s combined combustion system (CCS), which combines the fuel economy advantages of a diesel engine with the emission benefits of a gasoline engine.

According to Wolfgang Steiger, head of Research Energy Conversion Combustion Engines at Volkswagen, all this could be an important step toward a hydrogen fuel cell. He adds that in the longer term, the feedstock for such a synthetic fuel could be biomass that would have the benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Volkswagen’s position is that liquid synthetic fuels could provide an ideal transition from conventional fuels to the fuel cell operating on hydrogen.