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Second-Generation Biofuels: Daimler Supports a Promising
New Technology
New Technology
In October 2007, Volkswagen and Daimler became minority shareholders in Choren Industries GmbH, which is based in Freiberg in the German state of Saxony. Through their involvement, the two automakers will support Choren’s efforts to introduce climate-friendly second-generation synthetic biofuels to the market.
The Biomass-to-Liquid (BTL) fuels that are produced by Choren, which specializes in gasification technologies, have a key advantage over conventional biodiesel or bioethanol: BTL fuels utilize the energy of the entire plant, and they therefore achieve significantly higher yields per hectare. What’s more, BTL fuels can be produced even from plant or wood residues. In other words, fuel production does not need to compete directly with food production for acreage. In addition, the potential CO2 savings are substantially better with BTL fuel. In its home base in Saxony, Choren is building the world’s first commercially operated BTL plant on a commercial scale. Starting in 2008, this so-called Beta System is to begin producing 18 million liters of BTL fuel a year — a volume that’s enough to power about 15,000 passenger cars. The search for a suitable location for the next plant, which will be called Sigma1, has also been completed. This facility will have an annual production capacity of around 250 million liters of BTL fuel. Herbert Kohler, who heads Vehicle Body, Engine and Drive Train at Corporate Research and Advanced Development and is also the Chief Environmental Officer at Daimler AG, considers BTL fuels to be “the most promising option among regenerative fuels for today’s combustion engines.” |
