Bosch, Shell and Volkswagen have extended their cooperation in developing low carbon fuels with the latest development of Blue Gasoline, a new fuel that contains up to 33% renewables, claims the company. Blue gasoline ensures a well-to-wheel reduction in carbon emissions of at least 20% per km driven, Bosch said in a release.
Blue gasoline complies with the EN 228/E10 standard and can be used in all gasoline engines. Bosch has announced it would replace regular gasoline with Blue Gasoline at company filling stations.
Use of the new fuel in a fleet of 1,000 VW Golf VIII 1.5 TSIs alone could save more than 230 MT of CO2 per year, assuming an annual mileage of 10,000 km each. The initial plan is to make the fuel available at regular filling stations over the course of the year, starting in Germany. The aim is for the price at the pump to be in the range of premium fuels such as Shell V-Power.
Shell, meanwhile, will offset the remaining carbon emissions from the use of Blue Gasoline through certified offset arrangements.
The new fuel not only complies with the EN 228/E10 standard, but even exceeds it in key parameters such as storage stability and boiling behaviour. High-quality additives also keep the engine extremely clean and protect it against corrosion, said the company. The three partners jointly defined the fuel specification to be achieved, taking into account engine requirements and sustainability.
The proportion of up to 33% renewables is made up of biomass-based naphtha or ethanol certified by the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) system. One source of such naphtha is what is known as tall oil, a by-product in the production of pulp for paper. But naphtha can also be obtained from other residual and waste materials.
Big Sustainability Push
Dr Uwe Gackstatter, President, Bosch Powertrain Solutions division said every bit of CO2 we save can help us achieve our climate targets (sic). “On the road to climate-friendly mobility, we must ensure we don’t leave any technical opportunities untapped, starting with electromobility and ending with renewable fuels,” he said.
Felix Balthasar, Manager Speciality Fuels, Shell said the new fuel now also takes gasoline engines a big step forward in terms of sustainability.
Sebastian Willmann, Head of Internal Combustion Engine Development, Volkswagen termed Blue Gasoline another building block in the effective reduction of CO2 emissions from VW’s vehicle fleet.
“Blue Gasoline’s high storage stability makes the fuel particularly suitable for use in plug-in hybrid vehicles. In the future, the expansion of the charging infrastructure and larger batteries will mean that these vehicles predominantly run on electrical power, and thus that fuel may remain in the fuel tank for longer periods of time,” Willmann was quoted as saying.
Bosch will debut Blue Gasoline at its company filling stations this month, and has been using the R33 Blue Diesel exclusively at its filling stations for company cars and internal delivery vehicles since the end of 2018.