--- title: Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO2 and Water description: A research facility in Germany managed to create diesel fuel made from carbon dioxide water and renewable energy sources canonical: https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/ author: Kevin McSpadden article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-28T07:47:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:21.161Z article:section: Business og:title: Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO2 and Water og:description: The next step for the project will be industrial scale production. og:url: https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd648935f456729/6987ed24e53aba40c54db8a1/audi-fuel-environmental-friendly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Water, CO2 and green power are the ingredients for Audi e-diesel og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO2 and Water twitter:description: The next step for the project will be industrial scale production. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd648935f456729/6987ed24e53aba40c54db8a1/audi-fuel-environmental-friendly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO₂ and Water ## Video: Sunfire Alternative Fuels From Air, Water [Watch (HLS stream): Sunfire Alternative Fuels From Air, Water](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CcxAQNXK.m3u8) (3:58)  _Published 2015-04-28. Sunfire, a pioneer in the field of high-temperature fuel cells and reversible electrolysers, announced that the company succeeded in producing synthetic diesel from air, water and green electrical energy for the first time._ by [Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Apr 28, 2015 7:47 AM CUT  Water, CO2 and green power are the ingredients for Audi e-diesel Water, CO2 and green power are the ingredients for Audi e-dieselAudi Handout by [Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Apr 28, 2015 7:47 AM CUT An Audi research facility in Dresden, Germany, has managed to [create](https://www.audi-mediaservices.com/publish/ms/content/en/public/grafiken/2015/04/21/AT150279.html "undefined") the first batches of diesel fuel with a net-zero carbon footprint — made from carbon dioxide (CO2), water and renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power. Germany’s government has welcomed the new technology, created in partnership with a greentech company called Sunfire. Johanna Wanka, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research, even test drove the fuel and called it, “a crucial contribution to climate protection and the efficient use of resources,” according to an Audi press release. Manufacturing involves first breaking down steam into hydrogen and oxygen through high-temperature electrolysis. The hydrogen then reacts with CO2 to create a liquid called “blue crude.” This is then refined to make the e-diesel. A visual infographic released by Audi explains the steps in detail.  Audi Handout The next stage for the project will be industrial scale production because Sunfire only has capacity to produce 3,000 liters (792.5 gal.) of e-diesel in coming months. “If we get the first sales order, we will be ready to commercialize our technology,” said Sunfire CTO Christian von Olshausen in a company [press release](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/sunfire-international-pm-2015-alternative-fuel.pdf "undefined"). _Read next:_ [_This Is How Much OPEC Really Earns_](http://time.com/3836741/opec-real-earning/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/autoplay/?xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/"},"headline":"Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO₂ and Water","datePublished":"2015-04-28T07:47:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:21.161Z","description":"The next step for the project will be industrial scale production","url":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/","keywords":["climate change","global warming","Technology","cars","gasoline","Oil","Autos","Germany","Business topic","Audi","World","Automobiles"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd648935f456729/6987ed24e53aba40c54db8a1/audi-fuel-environmental-friendly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin McSpadden","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltabd648935f456729/6987ed24e53aba40c54db8a1/audi-fuel-environmental-friendly.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Water, CO2 and green power are the ingredients for Audi e-diesel","caption":"Water, CO2 and green power are the ingredients for Audi e-diesel","creditText":"Audi Handout","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/","name":"Audi Just Invented Fuel Made From CO₂ and Water"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sunfire Alternative Fuels From Air, Water","description":"Sunfire, a pioneer in the field of high-temperature fuel cells and reversible electrolysers, announced that the company succeeded in producing synthetic diesel from air, water and green electrical energy for the first time.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/CcxAQNXK/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-04-28T05:56:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CcxAQNXK.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/","duration":"PT3M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3837814/audi-environmental-protection-green-energy-climate-change-cars/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```