110
Global Compact International Yearbook 2013
Audi Future Energies –
Balancing Business and
Environmental Concerns
A primary objective concerns compre-
hensive CO
2
-
neutral mobility. To this end,
Audi is looking far beyond emissions
from vehicle exhaust systems. Besides
the actual usage phase, the company is
also examining vehicle manufacturing
and recycling processes as well as the
upstream fuel supply chain that is in-
creasingly gaining in importance.
Audi is the world’s first carmaker
to become directly involved in the de-
velopment and production of renewable
fuels that do not rely on biomass. Audi
is focusing on an entire range of drive
technologies. Its fuels of tomorrow are
Audi e-gas, Audi e-ethanol, Audi e-diesel,
and Audi e-hydrogen.
Audi e-gas
The first step is the Audi e-gas project:
Audi is creating an entire chain of sustain-
able fuels. As a joint project of Audi and
plant builder SolarFuel, the Audi e-gas
plant in the northern German town of
Werlte began operations in June 2013. It
is the world’s first industrial facility to use
CO
2
and renewable electricity to generate
a synthetic substitute for methane. The
plant will run on renewable electricity
generated via, for instance, wind or solar
energy. The accelerating expansion of
renewable energies means that energy
sources subject to fluctuations play an
increasingly larger role. In short, there
is sometimes a surplus of electricity and
at other times a shortage. With a rated
input of around 6,000 kW, the plant
will primarily use electricity from wind
power whenever there is oversupply. That,
in turn, will help solve a considerable
problem associated with the sea change
in energy: the storage of energy.
At the plant, renewable electricity
will be used to split water via electrolysis
into oxygen and hydrogen (Audi e-hydro-
gen), which will power the fuel-cell vehi-
cles of tomorrow. Awidespread hydrogen
infrastructure does not yet exist, however.
Audi
Sustainability is a guiding principle at AUDI AG.
Sustainability helps us retain our competitive edge and
economic efficiency as well as protect the environment
and ensure a decent future for generations to come.
By Dr. Peter F. Tropschuh and Elise Pham, Audi
Wind Energy
The starting point for the
Audi e-gas project is renewably
generated electricity.
Power Grid
The wind energy is to fed
into the public power grid.
Gas network
The e-gas is stored in the public
gas network and can therefore also
supply households and industry
with energy from renewable
sources.
Elektrolysis
The electrolysis plant. which is
operated by wind power, splits
water into oxygen and hydrogen.
Methanation
The hydrogen reacts with carbon
dioxide in a methanation plant.
The result: e-gas (syntetic natural gas)
CNG filling station
The increasing proportion of
e-gas promotes climate-friendly long-distance mobility.
CO
2