New Renewable Fuel | Green Energy News

June 29, 2003 – Vol.8 No.14

NEW RENEWABLE FUEL.

Add this to your lexicon of alternative fuels - syndiesel.

For about two-and-a-half years DaimlerChrysler and Choren Industries have been working in partnership to develop a new automotive fuel that would be derived from renewable sources, have the potential to be made in large quantities, be truly greenhouse gas neutral and be suitable for real-world consumer acceptance. Of a number of fuels studied, the most promising turned out to be synthetically produced methanol and that new alternative fuel, syndiesel. And of those two, syndiesel seems to warm more hearts with partnership researchers, including those from Volkswagen which joined DaimlerChrysler/Choren in the new fuel project in the Fall of 2002.

Syndiesel, which Choren is now producing in small quantities for testing, can be made from a range of bio-feedstock sources, unlike biodiesel which is limited to a variety of oil seeds or waste cooking oils. Syndiesel can apparently be made from wood chips and tree waste, meat and bone meal, dried sludge from sewer treatment plants, and dried household garbage. And, unlike biodiesel, an entire plant - stalk, limbs and all - could be used in the process, not just the seeds.

The process to make syndiesel is, of course, multi-staged and proprietary in specifics with Choren and partners, but involves turning feedstock into a kind of biocoke, a form of charcoal, using Choren’s Carbo-V gasification process. Hydrogen is also added to increase energy content. The company researchers admit that the hydrogen they use is derived from fossil fuels, but plan to use wind generated electricity to split water for hydrogen in the future.

According to the partners syndiesel, aside from being greenhouse gas neutral, should be very clean. There is no sulfur in the fuel, thus no SOX emissions, and researchers say there should be half as many particulates from combustion compared with conventional diesel fuel because of the high purity levels of the fuel.

The first batch of fuel is nearly ready for testing by DaimlerChrysler and Volkswagen, and the first results of tests should be available by this fall.

A new diesel fuel from renewables would fit right into DaimlerChrysler’s development plans for more efficient vehicles. The company has decided not to develop hybrid vehicles, but attempt to sell a large numbers of efficient diesels to the all-important North American. market. Volkswagen, of course already makes a number of diesels for world markets. Visit Choren Industries at http://www.choren.de/ DaimlerChrysler at http://media.daimlerchrysler.com/ .