Bosch, in partnership with Shell and Volkswagen, has developed a new type of gasoline — called Blue Gasoline — which is greener, with up to 33% renewable components and which promises to reduce CO2 emissions by about 20% (well- to-wheel, or from well to wheel) for every kilometer travelled.
Initially this fuel will only be available at the German company's facilities, but by the end of the year it will reach some public posts in Germany.
According to Bosch, and using as a basis for calculation a fleet of 1000 Volkswagen Golf 1.5 TSI cars with an annual mileage of around 10 000 km, the use of this new type of gasoline allows an approximate saving of 230 tonnes of CO2.
Among the various components that make up this fuel, naphtha and ethanol derived from biomass certified by the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) stand out. Naphtha in particular comes from the so-called “tall oil”, which is a by-product resulting from the treatment of wood pulp in paper production. According to Bosch, naphtha can still be obtained from other waste and waste materials.
Suitable for… plug-in hybrids
Due to its great storage stability, this new fuel makes it particularly suitable for plug-in hybrid vehicles, whose combustion engines can remain idle for long periods of time. However, any combustion engine that is E10 approved can refuel with Blue Gasoline.
Sebastian Willmann, responsible for the development of internal combustion engines at VolkswagenBlue Gasoline's great storage stability makes this fuel particularly suitable for use in plug-in hybrid vehicles. In the future, the expansion of the charging infrastructure and larger batteries will make these vehicles run predominantly on electricity, so the fuel will be able to remain in the tank for longer.
But despite all this, Bosch has already made it known that it does not want this new type of gasoline to be seen as a substitute for the expansion of electromobility. Instead, it serves as a supplement to existing vehicles and to the internal combustion engines that will still exist for years to come.
Even so, it is important to remember that recently the executive director of Bosch, Volkmar Denner, criticized the European Union's bet only on electric mobility and the lack of investment in the areas of hydrogen and renewable fuels.
As mentioned above, this “blue petrol” will reach some gas stations in Germany this year and will have a slightly higher price than the known E10 (98 octane petrol).