Audi just invented fuel made from CO2 and water

奥迪发明环保柴油，原料就是二氧化碳和水

An Audi research facility in Dresden, Germany, has managed to create the first batches¹ of diesel² fuel with a net-zero carbon footprint - made from carbon dioxide (CO2), water and renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power.

奥迪设在德国德累斯顿的研发部门已成功研制出首批零碳排放的柴油机燃料，完全由二氧化碳、水以及风能、太阳能等可再生能源制成。

Germany's government has welcomed the new technology, created in partnership³ with a greentech company called Sunfire. Johanna Wanka, Germany's Federal Minister of Education and Research, even test drove the fuel and called it, "a crucial contribution to climate protection and the efficient use of resources," according to an Audi press release.

这项新技术由该公司和绿色科技企业Sunfire共同开发，德国政府表示欢迎。奥迪发布新闻公告称，德国联邦教育和研究部长约翰娜·万卡还试驾了使用该燃料的汽车，称之为"对气候保护的重要贡献，以及对资源的高效利用"。

Manufacturing involves first breaking down steam into hydrogen and oxygen through high-temperature electrolysis. The hydrogen then reacts with CO2 to create a liquid called "blue crude." This is then refined to make the e-diesel.

生产新型柴油的第一步是通过高温电解把水分解为氢气和氧气。随后，氢气和二氧化碳发生反应，生成名为"蓝色原油"的液体，经过提炼，便可得到环保柴油。

A visual infographic released by Audi explains the steps in detail.

奥迪用可视化信息图详细解释了具体步骤。

The next stage for the project will be industrial scale production because Sunfire only has capacity to produce 3,000 liters (792.5 gal⁴.) of e-diesel in coming months.

这个项目下一阶段要攻克的将是工业化量产，因为未来数月Sunfire的环保柴油产能只有3000升。

"If we get the first sales order, we will be ready to commercialize our technology," said Sunfire CTO Christian⁵ von Olshausen in a company press release.

在新闻稿中，Sunfire首席技术官克里斯蒂安·范·奥尔斯豪森表示："只要接到订单，我们就可以把这项技术商业化。"

A spokesman for Audi said the project is still "purely⁶ a research project" and that commercialization is still "several years away", but the company has already brought to market similar synthetic⁷ fuel in the form of compressed natural gas that is used in its Audi A3 g-tron cars.

奥迪发言人称，该项目仍然"只是研究项目"，商业化还"需要几年时间"。不过，奥迪已将类似的合成燃料推向市场，即奥迪A3 g-tron使用的压缩天然气。

The timing⁸ of the announcement is ironic⁹, coming only days after the resignation of Ferdinand Pi?ch as chairman of Audi's parent group Volkswagen AG . Pi?ch had fallen out with chief executive Martin Winterkorn, reportedly over issues including a lack of technical innovation at Audi, VW's main luxury brand and a key driver of profits (the Audi spokesman dismissed the reports as "pure speculation").

这则消息发布的时间略有讽刺意味，因为就在此前几天，奥迪母公司大众汽车董事长费迪南德·皮耶希宣布辞职。有报道称，皮耶希和大众首席执行官马丁·文德恩在某些问题上存在分歧，其中就包括奥迪技术创新不足的问题（奥迪发言人对这种说法矢口否认，称该报道"纯属臆断"）。目前奥迪是大众旗下主要的豪华汽车品牌，也是推动利润增长的关键。