Audi is moving forward with the development of synthetic fuels as the company has announced they have begun producing e-diesel from air, water and green electricity.

According to the automaker, the company's new Sunfire plant creates e-diesel according to the "power-to-liquid principle" and only requires carbon dioxide, water and electricity as raw materials.

The process is rather complex but Audi says carbon dioxide is extracted from the air using a direct air capture method developed by Climeworks. In another part of the plant, an electrolysis unit - powered by green electricity - splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen then reacts with the carbon dioxide in a "two chemical processes conducted at 220 degrees Celsius (428 degrees Fahrenheit) and a pressure of 25 bar to produce an energetic liquid, made up of hydrocarbon compounds, which is called Blue Crude."

The plant can produce approximately 160 liters (42.2 gallons) of Blue Crude per day and nearly 80 percent of it can be converted into synthetic diesel known as e-diesel. Audi says the resulting fuel is sulfur free and ignites very easily thanks to its high cetane number. The company goes on to say "Its chemical properties allow it to be blended in any ratio with fossil diesel. This means that it can be used as a drop-in fuel."