Daimler and Volkswagen will take a minority stake in Choren Industries to help the company develop a synthetic, second generation biofuel known as BTL, VW said Oct. 11. Financial details were not provided on the deal that calls for construction of a test BTL (biomass to liquid) plant in Freiberg, eastern Germany that would make enough fuel for 15,000 cars a year from 2008.
Choren plans a second site that would raise production to 200,000 metric tons, or enough for around 200,000 vehicles, VW statement said.
BTL, also known as "SunFuel" or "SunDiesel", is produced from "various types of bogenic feedstock and residue, and thus hardly competes with food and fodder production," the VW statement said. It is also compatible with current and future diesel engine technology.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007