The carmaker has signed up the Viessmann Group as its first partner company to produce additional quantities of the synthetic fuel in a new type of biological process.

The fuel has previously been produced using electrolysis and methanation in the Audi e gas plant in Werlte in the German state of Lower Saxony, using a chemical-catalytic process under high pressure and high temperature. 

In the new Viessmann plant, methanation is now purely biological. The process is run under a moderate pressure of around five bar and at relatively low temperatures.

The pilot plant is also marked out as the first power-to-gas plant to utilise biological methanation across Germany.

“We are writing the next chapter of the Audi e gas story here,” said Reiner Mangold, head of sustainable product development at Audi AG, during the opening celebration. “Audi began to produce the sustainable fuel in Werlte around two years ago. Now we are also working with a partner who immediately contributed this new process.” 

Thanks to the new partnership, Audi will be able to supply a growing number of customers with sustainably produced e-gas in the future. Simultaneously, the brand is also extending its line-up of models with natural gas drive.