What are e-fuels: costs and limits of synthetic petrol
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Europe has definitively confirmed the end of registrations of endothermic vehicles in 2035 and the auto makers will have to reduce emissions from new vehicles by 55% by 2030 (compared to 2021 emissions), until reaching 100% of the reduction of greenhouse gases five years later. But that’s not all: the lawmakers have also decided to ask the Commission to find a role for the e-fuel addressing them to those vehicles which do not fall within the scope of the regulation, even if this proposal is not binding. In short, the EU environment ministers and the European Parliament have put an end to the heat engines.
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What are
By e-fuel we mean all liquid or gaseous fuels, of synthetic origin, produced through energy-intensive processes powered by renewable electricity.
In fact, e-fuels are the fruit of process of transforming renewable electricity into chemistry in the form of fuels that are used as energy carriers. They are also called electrofuel powerfuel Power-to-X (PtX) and their great strength is that – in theory – they can ensure a future for heat engines.
How they are produced
Everything comes from one electrolysis process which breaks down water into its basic elements such as hydrogen and oxygen. A process that requires a lot of electricity which, for this reason, is in turn produced using only renewable sources.
Then – thanks to the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, hydrogen is mixed with CO2 extracted from the air and converted into a liquid energy vector: the e-fuel is born.
Because they consider themselves green
We know that e-fuels are considered totally eco fuels. But why seen the production process? The reason lies in the fact that for the production only energy obtained from renewable sources is used and then because only the same quantity of CO is emitted into the environment2 which had previously been absorbed during production.
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The difference between e-fuel and biofuels
They are two completely different things because i biofuelsor biofuelsarise only from processing of organic, vegetable or animal substances. So also from waste and waste from rapeseed, corn or soybean crops. They are perfect because they implement the circular economy, lengthen the life cycle of products, partially solve the waste problem and reduce the overall environmental impact.
Also, if you cultivate a field to be used for the creation of biofuels, part of CO2 produced by their combustion is directly reabsorbed by the cultivation itself.
The (enormous) problem of biofuels, however, is linked to the mass soil consumption which leads to the inevitable deforestation. Not to mention that in the cycle of production and resumption of CO2 it is impossible to achieve balance. And then there is also the problem that, faced with the scourge of hunger in the world, crops cannot be taken away from others that could feed populations. That’s why we are now pointing to biofuels produced with marine algaemicroalgae and particular genetic crossings.
How e-fuel can be used
This synthetic fuel can be used in various ways, all regulated by specific legislation (Din En 228): e-Petrol, e-Diesel, e-Heating and e-Kerosene. In addition, e-fuels can also be mixed with diesel or petrol, to offer more ecological fuels than diesel and petrol tout court. All without modifying the distribution network of conventional fuels which could sell e-fuels without any problems, neither of storage nor of refuelling, because e-fuels can be stored at ambient pressure and temperature.
The role of e-fuels
However, the role of these fuels will necessarily be marginal: it is the fuel industry itself that admits, in its own estimates, that in 2035 e-fuels could satisfy just 3% of road fuel demand in Europe (or 0.4% of the same in 2030, 16% in 2040 and 50% in 2050 according to the analysis of Concawe, a research center founded and financed by operators in the fossil sector)”.
The cost problem
The problem of costs seems insurmountable: today a liter of e-fuel costs 20 euros and it is no coincidence that Porsche – the company in the world that is investing the most in this technology – has officially asked the EU for incentives to get -fuel offered at the same price as petrol and diesel. Barbara Frenkel, head of supplies for the German brand, underlined how this emphasis on e-fuels is not designed to offer models like the Porsche 911 the possibility of being sold in Europe after the 2035 goal but that it is a solution to keep activity – but with reduced emissions – the enormous stock of cars that will still be on the road after the deadline set by the European Union.
Where will it be produced
Porsche opened a factory for the production of e-fuel in Chile in December of last year. In a pilot phase, 130,000 liters of fuel will be produced there, rising to 550 million a year by 2027. The German manufacturer has repeatedly indicated the e-fuel as a complementary solution to electric mobilityconfirming that by 2030, 80% of its range will be made up of zero-emission models.
And Chile will be the homeland of e-fuels, to the point that this new fuel is now part of the national energy strategy: in fact, in this country, the production of e-fuels will be accompanied by that of green hydrogen (generated from renewable sources) to then export these two fuels all over the world. The project takes advantage of the area’s high winds, a perfect element for generating low-cost wind energy. And cheap labour, which would make it possible to start production at low cost.
That’s why Porsche also invested $75 million in HIF Global LLC, a holding company of developers designing synthetic fuel production plants, gaining a long-term stake in the Santiago, Chile-based company. Funds EIG Global Energy Partners and Baker Hughes also took part in the financing round, as well as Andes Mining & Energy of Chile and Gemstone Investments. The new capital injection will be used to build industrial e-Fuel plants in Chile, the United States and Australia, places that have a large amount of renewable energy available.
The study that crushes e-fuels
The road chosen by Porsche appears to be an uphill one: a recent study by Transport & Environment argues that synthetic fuels do not serve to decarbonise the car sector. According to Transport & Environment, e-fuels are not the right path for the ecological transition of the automotive sector, which alone is responsible for 12% of total climate-changing emissions in Europe.
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To arrive at this conclusion, the study calculated the CO emissions2 over the entire life cycle of a synthetic fuel-powered car purchased in 2030, verifying that a hybrid car powered by e-fuel over its entire life cycle reduces carbon dioxide emissions by only 5% compared to a petrol car. But why use a hybrid for testing? Because it is the one to which the lowest emissions correspond in the entire life cycle, when synthetic fuels are used to power it, and therefore to have a more truthful result.
The life cycle analysis also takes into account the emissions deriving from theextraction of materialsfrom the component production (including batteries), fromvehicle assembly, recycling and disposal. In the use phase, for cars with combustion engines, the emissions direct from the exhaust and those upstream from the fuel.
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For the electric cars direct emissions from electricity generation and electrical infrastructure (for example, the production of solar panels and wind turbines) were counted. What if instead we considered a car powered solely by synthetic fuels, produced using 100% renewable energy? In this case, the car would produce 82% of CO emissions over its entire life cycle2 less than atraditional petrol car, while still having more impact than a battery electric car powered by 100% renewable energy, mainly due to the low efficiency associated with the production process of synthetic fuels. However, the hypothesis is little more than a theoretical exercise, given the limited availability of e-fuel now on the market.
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