Bosch, Shell, and Volkswagen develop renewable gasoline with 20 percent lower emissions

Bosch, Shell, and Volkswagen have come up with a low-carbon gasoline. Their new fuel, called Blue Gasoline, contains up to 33 percent renewables, ensuring a well-to-wheel reduction in carbon emissions of at least 20 percent per kilometre driven.

This means a fleet of 1,000 VW Golf VIII 1.5 TSIs alone could save more than 230 metric tons of CO₂ per year, assuming an annual mileage of 10,000 kilometres each, a release shows.

Shell will offset the remaining carbon emissions from the use of Blue Gasoline through certified offset arrangements. The initial plan is to make the fuel available at regular filling stations over the course of the year, starting in Germany.

“On the road to climate-friendly mobility, we must ensure we don’t leave any technical opportunities untapped, starting with electromobility and ending with renewable fuels. Every bit of CO₂ we save can help us achieve our climate targets,” says Uwe Gackstatter, president of the Bosch Powertrain Solutions division.

“We’re pleased to present this counterpart to R33 Blue Diesel. Our new fuel now also takes gasoline engines a big step forward in terms of sustainability,” says Felix Balthasar, Manager Speciality Fuels at Shell.

Sebastian Willmann, head of Internal Combustion Engine Development at Volkswagen, says: “Blue Gasoline is another building block in the effective reduction of CO₂ emissions from the vehicle fleet. Blue Gasoline’s high storage stability makes the fuel particularly suitable for use in plug-in hybrid vehicles. In the future, the expansion of the charging infrastructure and larger batteries will mean that these vehicles predominantly run on electrical power, and thus that fuel may remain in the fuel tank for longer periods of time.”