Audi e-Gas Project Honored with 2014 European Visionary Innovation Leadership Award

Frost & Sullivan is proud to present the 2014 European Visionary Innovation Leadership Award towards a Future of Sustainable Mobility to Audi AG for the Audi e-gas project. With the e-gas project, Audi has pointed eco-conscious automotive original equipment manufacturers' (OEMs') investment and innovation efforts towards other industries such as the energy sector, so they can share knowledge, gain expertise, and develop solutions for sustainable mobility.

"While the automotive industry is only now waking up to the concept of new mobility horizons, Audi has already blazed trails for both premium and mass-market OEMs to follow and envisage a world where urban-connected cities, connected living, and zero emission futures are a reality," says Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Yeswant Abhimanyu.

Already, urbanisation markers such as mega cities, regions, and corridors; innovating to zero concepts such as zero waste/emission, zero emissions from cars, carbon-neutral cities, factories, and retail stores, bricks and clicks; micro-mobility; and the Internet of Everything are all changing the automotive landscape. Audi has pushed the envelope in mobility with innovations in Audi e-gas, Audi e-fuels, Audi City, and Audi connect.

Audi has rolled out its CO₂-neutral mobility vision with the e-gas project, wherein it uses CO₂ as a raw material in the production of e-gas. The e-gas project specifically covers e-power, e-hydrogen, and e-gas to propel future vehicles. The e-diesel and e-ethanol projects are other outstanding examples of Audi's approach to future mobility sustainability. E-ethanol and e-diesel have the advantages of being produced without biomass and also can be blended with fossil fuel. Better purity and use with existing diesel systems is an added advantage of e-diesel. Audi's future mobility goal is to have mobility users drive the A3 e-tron emission-free in cities and the Internal combustion engine (ICE) with e-fuels outside of city limits.

Furthermore, the electrolysis plant that produces hydrogen for the production of e-gas is operated by renewably generated electricity, placing Audi among the few global vehicle manufacturers to develop and build an entire chain of sustainable energy sources (electricity, hydrogen, and e-gas). In this plant, hydrogen is made to react with CO₂ from a biogas plant that is fed with organic waste in a methanation process. This CO₂, which would otherwise pollute the atmosphere, is bound in to produce e-gas.

Audi's push towards the development and production of climate-friendly synthetic fuels addresses concerns regarding the future of the internal combustion engine and ways in which CO₂ emissions can be further reduced. The company's excellence in strategy is exemplified by its corporate vision of combining climate-neutral mobility with automotive, to create harmony between ecology and economy.

"Audi's aim is to develop fuels with emission-binding potential to reduce 100% percent of the CO₂ that the vehicles are emitting when in use and with an overall GHG reduction of more than 70% in a complete life cycle calculation including the entire process of production and logistics," notes Abhimanyu. "The use of e-gas from a plant that uses wind energy to fuel the Audi A3 g-tron illustrates the integration of this vision into its business strategy."

Importantly, the e-gas project provides 'flexibility in use'; wherein, the e-gas can be distributed to filling stations through the existing German public-gas network. Audi also astutely signed key partnerships to realise its visionary projects; for example, it built the facility in Werlte in cooperation with partners such as ETOGAS (formerly SolarFuel), MT-BioMethan, and EWE. Likewise, Audi partners with Joule for further R&D in its e-fuel project.

Another key aspect of the innovation process is the focus on eco-balance. This balance is achieved by pursuing an integrated cradle-to-grave approach. It looks beyond the CO₂ emissions related to tank-to-wheel and includes the well-to-wheel perspective of the energy used for motoring, and cradle to cradle assessments of the cars and its materials. The other point of focus is product innovation and investments in vehicles such as the A3 g-tron, which aids this eco-balance. It boasts advanced technology in fuel storage, lightweight design, recycling, efficiency, and range.

One of the key effects of the e-gas PtG project on society is that it identifies a place to store the excess renewable energy. If strong winds generate excess electricity, it can be converted to e-gas and stored in the public-gas network in Germany, which has more than 200 terrawatt hours of capacity.

"Audi has firmly positioned itself on a path towards sustainable mobility by building a chain of sustainable energy sources," observes Abhimanyu. "This coupled with its continued developments in powertrain and drive technologies, lightweight approaches, and associated technology advancements, have made it a worthy recipient of the 2014 European Visionary Innovation Leadership Award."

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated the understanding to leverage global Mega Trends, integrate the vision into processes to achieve strategic excellence. The award recognises the efficacy of the recipient's innovative process and the impact it has on business and society at large.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Audi AG

"The Audi Group delivered approximately 1,575,500 cars of the Audi brand to customers in 2013. In 2013 the company reported revenue of €49.9 billion and an operating profit of €5.03 billion. The company is globally operating in more than 100 markets with production facilities in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm (Germany), Gyor (Hungary), Brussels (Belgium), Bratislava (Slovakia), Martorell (Spain), Kaluga (Russia), Aurangabad (India), Changchun (China) and Jakarta (Indonesia). Since December 2013, the brand with the Four Rings has been producing cars also in Foshan (China). In 2015, Audi will start production in Sao Jose dos Pinhais (Brazil), followed by San Jose Chiapa (Mexico) in 2016. Wholly owned subsidiaries of AUDI AG include quattro GmbH (Neckarsulm), Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. (Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy) and Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. (Bologna, Italy), the sports motorcycle manufacturer. The company currently employs approximately 76,000 people worldwide, thereof more than 53,400 in Germany. Total investment of around €22 billion is planned from 2014 to 2018 – primarily in new products and sustainable technologies. Audi is committed to its corporate responsibility and has anchored the principle of sustainability for its products and processes in its strategy. The long-term goal is CO₂-neutral mobility."

Source: http://www.frost.com/