Audi’s official press release shows that to make e-diesel, high-temperature electrolysis must first split water, then heat it to form steam, thus separating the hydrogen from the oxygen. The oxygen is then released into the atmosphere and the hydrogen is fed into a reactor, where it is blended with CO2, thus forming a liquid commonly referred to as “blue crude,” which can be refined like any other fuel. Audi says efficiency levels are about 70% right now, with future batches hopefully yielding far greater extraction rates. http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobil...-and-co2-can-be-turned-into-fuel.html/?ref=YF
This process still needs the energy input to split H2O, but with high temperature electrolysis it can be part (<20% as I recall) thermal. Also, as they note, it could come from solar (wind is a form of solar). However, that solar electric power could be used other wise to reduce the amount of power generated by fossil fuel production of electric energy, so for decades this is a net negative step in reducing CO2 release. I doubt if it can achieve even half the ERoEI that sugar cane based alcohol has already demonstrated or be as cheap per mile driven. It does however, like sugar cane alcohol still use the IC engine, so not nearly as expensive to produce cars as EV are (and with out the battery replacement / disposal problems.) Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! The O2 should be sold. Also it is "environmental PR" to show the CO2 source as the air - The production plant will not recover the 4 PPM CO2 in the air, but be next to (or close to) a fossil fuel power plant where the stack gas is about 20% CO2. Being near a power plant also reduces the cost of the thermal energy input to the water splitting energy used.
This seems a little too Rube Goldberg-y to me. Is the steam-reforming reaction so outdated that no one even considers it except as the additional step in the above diagram? Israel (Weissman Institute?) had an experimental solar system set up a few years ago that produced syngas in the solar reactor, then pumped it to an engine that drove a generator whose exhaust gases were returned to the reactor for reforming. If I remember correctly....
looks kinda complicated,,and probably not feasible financially who knows... imo it would be much better trying to improve IC engines burning efficiency..if I'm not mistaken it's something like 25% for gas and maybe 35% for diesel,quite pathetic in this day and age,when way back then there was already invention available to be almost double that or more.. http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/hrdp-1009-what-ever-happened-to-smokeys-hot-vapor-engine/ CSRV rotary valves is another invention that has been around for over a decade,(and no auto manufacturer had foresight to buy and use)which not only makes the engine more efficient and powerful but also cleaner running,and the best part is its oil changes can be extended to fifty thousand miles or more as the oil doesn't degrade like regular poppet valve motors.. http://www.coatesengine.com/csrv-advantages.html
