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The next Jetta TDI Cup races will run on biodiesel: what does this mean?
It’s official. The 2009 TDI Cup Racing Series will run on clean, renewable, 2nd-generation Biodiesel. Even green car enthusiasts think this is a big deal. And it is a big deal.
Last year, following the announcement of the TDI Cup Racing Series (with VW declaring its goal of holding a green race) I picked up the phone and called Clarke Campbell, head of racing programs for Volkswagen North America. The Cup Series is his baby. When Clarke answered, he was met with a barrage of questions about the environmental footprint of the TDI Series. What were the cars using for fuel? Could they use biodiesel? What about the generators and transport trucks? What material was used for the promotional swag? I needed to know. Hey, I’m the green guy!
In Clarke, I found a passionate and committed race fan who also strongly believed VW had a responsibility to seek out and use all possible alternatives available to reduce the environmental footprint of the series. Turned out the swag was made from bamboo!
Clarke suggested one of the ways to reduce the series’ footprint was to power the race cars on Volkswagen warranty-approved B5 biodiesel (have a look at this post from a few months back if you need details on B5.) He looked for a solution to the fuel question, and Volkswagen was hoping that by the beginning of the 2009 schedule all diesel engines used in the series (we are talking about the transport rigs, generators, support vehicles AND the new Jetta TDI Clean Diesel race cars, of course) would be running on “green fuel.” Well, hats off to the VW racing group.
The solution turned out to be a fuel from Hyperfuels, and a product called Syndiesel. This is a synthetic diesel produced from biomass such as waste wood, grasses and municipal waste. Yes, biomass as opposed to petroleum pulled from under the Earth’s crust. The industry term for this fuel is BTL or Biomass to Liquid, which is also commonly referred to as a 2nd-generation. These fuels are produced from non-food feed stocks that don’t interfere with arable land used for growing crops for human consumption.
There is a fair bit of very good information (and some really cool photos) of BTL on this post from AutoBlogGreen, including a look at the TDI engine in the LeMans race vehicle and the link to Volkswagen’s extensive investment in renewable fuels.
The TDI race cars will use a blend of 5% Syndiesel (BTL) and 95% petroleum diesel resulting in a B5 biodiesel blend which has countless benefits over conventional fossil fuel. B5 will burn cleaner than straight petroleum diesel, provide greater engine lubricity, increased power (biomass fuel has a higher BTU rating over conventional petroleum fuel – yes, this is race fuel for the street!), AND reduce carbon emissions.
The announcement from Volkswagen was great news for the racing world. For TDI owners, this is proof positive that biodiesel is here to stay. Race-tested, warranty-approved and clean, biodiesel is one of the solutions which will continue to grow in popularity with drivers, policy makers, and anyone that breathes air.
I can’t wait to see these TDI Cup cars run at Mosport on August 28th. See you there!
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