From Fair Stand to Mobility - SunDiesel

A smart fortwo CDI fills up with the cleanest and most environmentally friendly fuel ever: SunDiesel. This synthetic diesel fuel was produced from biomass, to be more exact, from the wood in the DaimlerChrysler fair stand at the 2004 Paris International Motor Show. On this fuel the smart car can run for 13,000kms in an environmentally friendly manner! How is this possible? How can two tons of wood be transformed into 500 liters of the cleanest and most environmentally-friendly diesel fuel of all times?
DaimlerChrysler christened the biomass-based sulfur-and aromatics-free fuel SunDiesel. The fuel can be produced from all types of biomass. SunDiesel is largely CO2 neutral. This is because during combustion in the engine, only as much carbon dioxide is created as was previously absorbed from the air by the plants during their growth period. Another advantage: in comparison to the traditional biodiesel is that SunDiesel is more efficient because the whole of the plant is used. What is more, any diesel vehicle can use SunDiesel without modifications. Thus, even today, it would be possible to save up to 200million tons of CO2 in Europe every year. Moreover, tests also show that the particulate figured reduced by up to 50% and those for carbon monoxide by up to 90%. Further improvement could be anticipated if diesel engines are aligned to the new fuel.
DaimlerChrysler regards the reduction of emissions as one of the central challenges for the future of the automobile industry. TOgether with Choren Industries in Freiberg, Germany, DaimlerChrysler has started a pilot project for generating SunDiesel. Volkswagon has also joined in in this co-operation.
The SunDiesel project is a key element of DaimlerChrysler's five step fuel and powertrain strategy "Energy for the Future" for sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility.
Further optimization of combustion engines.Worldwide improvement and standardization of fuel quality. CO2-neutral biofuels from renewable energy resources. Further developement of hybrid drives, as a bridge to fuel cell technology, they key to emission free driving.