Rentech's Synthetic RenDiesel® Fuels Audi A3 TDI During L.A. Auto Show Green Cars Ride & Drive Event
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LOS ANGELES--Rentech, Inc. announced that its synthetic RenDiesel ® fuel will power an Audi A3 TDI during today’s Green Cars LA Auto Show Ride & Drive event, hosted by Green Car Journal.
During the event, credentialed journalists will experience the performance of synthetic RenDiesel fuel in Green Car Journa’s 2010 Green Car of the Year®, an honor awarded to the Audi A3 TDI at last year’s LA Auto Show. Last month, two Audi A3 TDIs performed flawlessly, according to Audi and Green Car Journal editors, during the first-ever extended drive using synthetic RenDiesel fuel.
The four-day, 1,000 mile endurance drive, part of the “2010 Green Car of the Year Tour”TM, demonstrated that synthetic drop-in RenDiesel fuel and diesel vehicles such as the Audi A3 TDI provide viable solutions to improving the environment and can contribute to a decreased reliance on imported oil.
During the drive, the Audi A3 TDI averaged 43 mpg on RenDiesel fuel, which is greater than the EPA average highway fuel economy rating for that car. The RenDiesel fuel used on the drive was produced from natural gas and can also be made from biomass. The renewable RenDiesel fuel to be produced from biomass using Rentech-SilvaGas gasification technology at Rentech’s Rialto Renewable Energy Center is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a lifecycle basis by as much as 97% over conventional diesel fuel and by a comparable amount over electric vehicles. A vehicle using RenDiesel fuel is also expected to be as much as two times more fuel efficient than one running on ethanol. RenDiesel fuel contains approximately 60% more energy per gallon than ethanol and diesel engines typically achieve 20-40% more miles per gallon than gasoline engines. RenDiesel fuel also produces fewer volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions than ethanol or traditional diesel and has lower tailpipe emissions compared to traditional diesel.
Rentech’s Rialto Renewable Energy Center, which is anticipated to create over 1,000 direct and indirect jobs during the construction and operations phases, is designed to produce approximately 640 barrels per day of renewable synthetic fuels, primarily RenDiesel® fuel, and approximately 35 MW of renewable electric power (RenPowerTM) from urban green waste diverted from landfills. Both of these products will have low carbon footprints and help California reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, consistent with the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Renewable Portfolio Standard.
About Rentech, Inc.
Rentech, Inc. (www.rentechinc.com), incorporated in 1981, provides clean energy solutions. The Company's Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification process can convert multiple biomass feedstocks into synthesis gas (syngas) for production of renewable fuels and power. Combining the gasification process with Rentech's unique application of syngas conditioning and clean-up technology and the patented Rentech Process based on Fischer-Tropsch chemistry, Rentech offers an integrated solution for production of synthetic fuels from biomass. The Rentech Process can also convert syngas from fossil resources into ultra-clean synthetic jet and diesel fuels, specialty waxes, and chemicals. Final product upgrading and acid gas removal technologies are provided under an alliance with UOP, a Honeywell company. Rentech develops projects and licenses these technologies for application in synthetic fuels and power facilities worldwide. Rentech Energy Midwest Corporation, the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, manufactures and sells nitrogen fertilizer products including ammonia, urea ammonia nitrate, urea granule, and urea solution in the corn-belt region of the central United States. Rentech has been recognized by Biofuels Digest as one of the “ Hottest Companies in Bio-energy” and has been named as one of the “;Biofuels Digest Companies of the Year” for its recent innovations and achievements, particularly in aviation biofuels.
About The Green Cars LA Auto Show Ride & Drive
The Green Cars LA Auto Show Ride & Drive takes place today, Thursday, November 18, 2010, from 9:40 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Hosted annually by Green Car Journal, the event enables journalists to experience back-to-back comparison drives of exciting, new, and experimental models that offer high fuel efficiency, low environmental impact, or run on a variety of alternative fuels. Manufacturers provide a rare opportunity for journalists to perform real-world testing of debut vehicles on LA city streets. Credentialed journalists may reserve vehicles on a first-come, first-served basis at the registration area in the South Hall Lobby beginning at 9:40 am. at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
