Audi looks towards CO2-neutral mobility

With depleting natural resources and as a result sky rocketing prices for the same, car manufacturers are already looking at various alternate fuels that will power the wheels of the future. Audi being at the top of its game when it comes to technology also wants to take the initiative when it comes to alternate fuels. Audi balanced mobility refers to a sustainable approach which addresses every aspect of the automotive value-added chain and provides new impulses for all gas and power suppliers in Germany.

“Ecology and economy in unison: that is the greatest challenge of the future. To attain this we must bring mobility completely into equilibrium – with people and their new values and with the environment. CO2-neutral mobility is our goal,” says Audi Chairman Rupert Stadler. He continues: “On the way to achieving this we are systematically using clean power. We are producing climate-friendly fuels and forming a new mindset for which our entire company stands. That’s the objective of Audi balanced mobility.”

The e-gas project, which after three years of intensive research is now entering the practical phase, is a cornerstone of this mission: Audi is the world’s first automotive manufacturer to set up an entire portfolio of sustainable sources of energy. Whereas some competitors limit themselves to purchasing green power from third parties, the brand with the four rings is becoming directly involved in producing it.

For this purpose, Audi contributes to the construction of offshore North Sea wind turbines, which generate green power that is then fed into the public power grid. Audi wants to use green power to produce and also operate its electric-drive
e-tron models in the future.

En route to the CO2-neutral mobility of tomorrow, Audi is systematically relying on renewable energies – and the Audi e-gas project will be a milestone along this route. It consists of two main components. Wind turbines will generate clean power, part of which Audi will use in the future to build its e-tron vehicles. Clean power will also play a key role in powering e-tron vehicles. The project’s second large component is the e-gas plant, which will produce hydrogen and methane on an industrial scale.

Ground is scheduled to be broken in Werlte, Germany in July 2011. The e-gas plant is connected to a waste-biogas plant, which supplies the concentrated CO2 necessary for methanation and which would otherwise pollute the atmosphere. The e-gas project’s cars like the Audi A1 e-tron and the Audi A3 TCNG are working examples which pretty much tell us that alternate fuels are definitely the future.