Fuelled by the Sun on the Furka Pass

A classic Audi Sport Quattro has become the first car to climb Switzerland’s fabulous Furka Pass using a sustainable fuel made with sunlight.

The 1985 rally-ready Audi was powered by “solar gasoline” created by Swiss company Synhelion. It’s a drop-in alternative to regular petrol that can be used in any internal combustion engine without modification.

The fuel is made from bio-waste, which is fed to bacteria and broken down into a methane-carbon dioxide bio gas. This gas gets superheated by solar-generated electricity which converts it into a hydrogen and carbon monoxide mix known as syngas. When liquified it becomes the solar fuel that powered the classic Audi up the 14 meandering miles of the Furka Pass and to its peak of 2,429 metres.

While the Synhelion fuel performs just like pump petrol the company says that it contains fewer impurities than petroleum-based fuels and emits “only as much CO2 during use as was used in production.” That’s good news for the pure alpine air.

“This is a huge milestone,” says Philipp Furler, co-founder of Synhelion. “For the first time, we’ve shown that solar fuel can power a car in real-world conditions. It proves that our technology is ready for the road, and that even iconic internal combustion engines can have a role in a green future.”

The company says that by 2033 it will be able to manufacture one million tons of solar gasoline per year which should power a lot of road trips!

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