We're constantly being told that the car is destroying the planet, and that the CO2 your car churns out will eventually lead to the extinction of humankind. Or something like that.
Well, what if, instead of emitting CO2, cars could actually use the dreaded gas as a fuel? As it turns out, Audi is planning to do exactly that.
Audi is developing a way of producing what it calls e-ethanol (petrol, basically) and e-diesel from waste CO2 emissions. Theoretically, this could give a liquid-fuelled car the lifetime carbon emissions of a fully electric vehicle, without any of the range anxiety.
The process of creating this synthetic fuel is actually very simple. Basically, it involves filling large transparent tubes with waste or salt water and a type of genetically-modified bacteria. When exposed to sunlight and carbon dioxide, these bacteria produce fuel. Simple.
Actually, it's not quite that simple. While the process itself may be relatively easy to understand, Audi will need quite a lot of space to build the plants in which the fuel will be created.
In fact, in order to produce enough e-ethanol and e-diesel to power all of the cars in Britain, a plant roughly the size of Northern Ireland would be needed. However, if Audi's plans were to come to fruition, the plants would be constructed in uninhabitable desert.
So, will e-ethanol and e-diesel be the fuels of the future? It's too early to say but, you'd have to admit, it sounds promising.
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