DAIMLERCHRYSLER has launched a major research programme into ways of producing synthetic fuel from material including waste wood and crops.

Together with Volkswagen and a firm called Choren, it is working on creating a synthetic fuel called Biotrol that is clean and renewable.

Choren has built the world's first processing facility for converting biomass from wood residue into fuel. In a further effort to be green, the fuel is taken out of waste wood from forestry management resources.

Biotrol is a word that is a mixture of biomass and petrol. Earlier this year, Mercedes Car Group board member Jurgen Hubbert and Thomas Weber, the deputy board member for research and technology, filled a car from the Biotrol test fleet for the first time.

Because the fuel is made from plants that have absorbed carbon dioxide to grow, the fuel is effectively CO2 neutral.

DaimlerChrysler claims that by 2015, 10% of fuel use could be so-called BTL fuels, making every tenth litre of diesel fuel put into vehicles carbon dioxide (CO2) neutral and reducing emissions of the gas by 10%.

The fuel can be mixed with either petrol or diesel and is suitable for all types of engine. It will be provided as an additive, rather than a full replacement for traditional fossil fuels.

However, production costs are currently about E0.7 per litre, which is two to three times more expensive than conventional fuels.

A spokesman for DaimlerChrysler said: 'There are 750 million motor vehicles on the earth. Internal combustion engines will dominate for many years to come. To optimise them still further, to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, will require new concepts, such as direct fuel injection, supercharging and vehicle downsizing.'

DaimlerChrysler is also investing heavily in fuel cell technology, which it showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Transport between halls at the show was provided by a fleet of Mercedes-Benz A-Classes powered by fuel cells.

The spokesman added: 'Of all the alternative sources of propulsion, fuel cell vehicles offer the best future perspective.'

Even with current technology, the firm reports that average fuel consumption on its cars has fallen by 24% since 1990, with exhaust gas emissions cut by 97%. Diesel exhaust emissions alone are down 81%.

The firm is also increasing the use of recyclable plastics. A total of 38 E-class components have been approved for recycling and another 50 are made from natural materials. The firm now produces more than one million parts a year from recyclable plastics.

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