Sunfire GmbH has announced that it has produced over three tonnes of synthetic crude oil as a result of industrial-scale "endurance testing" of its power-to-liquid (PtL) facility in Dresden, Germany.

Sunfire GmbH, a Germany-based developer and manufacturer of high-temperature electrolysers (SOEC) and high-temperature fuel cells (SOFC) has announced that it has produced over three tonnes of ‘Blue Crude’, a synthetic crude oil produced using renewable electricity, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water.
According to a statement, the alternative fuel was produced as a result of industrial-scale “endurance testing” of its power-to-liquid (PtL) facility in Dresden, Germany. and part of a project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Our amazing team has achieved another milestone on the journey towards industrial commercialisation. Almost ten tonnes of CO2 was used to generate the energy-rich crude oil substitute, said Nils Aldag, Chief Commercial Officer at Sunfire.
The over 1 500 hours continuous facility operational test was part of a project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
Many areas in our economy are dominated by crude oil. Everyday products from sports shoes to cosmetics would be unthinkable without crude. Our Blue Crude is a CO2-neutral alternative to crude oil that can be manufactured anywhere in the world using our technology. It has huge potential for the world’s decarbonisation efforts and the fight against climate change, said Aldag.
Blue Crude for mobility and everyday products
Auto major Audi AG received some of the product produced by Sunfire and according to Sunfire, their tests confirmed the presence of premium properties typically found in Fischer-Tropsch products – the synthetic fuel (Audi e-diesel) has a high cetane value and therefore features excellent combustion properties.
Importantly it does not contain sulphur or aromatic compounds and produces almost no soot particles during combustion. The product has comparable properties with racing fuel, even without additional processing.
Blue Crude can be used with the existing refinery, fuelling stations and transportation infrastructure. As such, it is the most efficient way of electrifying transport routes, long-haul traffic and air traffic and transitioning these sectors to renewable systems in the medium term, said Christian von Olshausen, Chief Technology Officer at Sunfire.
It remains to be seen how much of the crude oil substitute can be manufactured over the coming years. Aircraft manufacturers, airlines, truck manufacturers and manufacturers of speciality chemicals have all shown commercial interest in Sunfire’s technology in recent months.
Even existing rail networks that would otherwise be extremely expensive to electrify can become 100-percent renewable and CO2-neutral through a combination of reliable diesel-hybrid railcars and e-fuel.
Sector coupling
In the run-up to the market launch, the hydrogen produced by Sunfire’s electrolysis process (SOEC) currently has to be supplied to the chemicals and mobility sectors through refineries. According to Sunfire, this will start to bring these industries together with the energy sector and allow Blue Crude production facilities to be established in collaboration with industry partners.