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E-fuels: refueling for climate protection
Since e-fuels are CO2-neutral and also have a climate-protecting effect in the existing fleet, scientists and the ÖAMTC are calling for an open discussion about their widespread use.
E-fuels: refueling for climate protection
Greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by at least 55 percent by 2030. An ambitious goal to which the transport sector must also make its contribution - that is also beyond question for the ÖAMTC. The Austrian federal government's plans to rely solely on electromobility and to massively increase taxes on cars with combustion engines are neither expedient nor socially fair, says the mobility club. Bernhard Wiesinger, head of the ÖAMTC interest group, explains: “It would be much more effective to make the existing fleet more climate-friendly with e-fuels, because these sustainable fuels enable significantly CO2-poorer or even CO2-neutral operation of an internal combustion engine.” In order to be able to use this potential, however, there must not be a general ban on internal combustion engines - as suggested by individual environment ministers.
Strong e-fuels lobby
International experts discussed the topic of e-fuels in a symposium organized by the ÖAMTC. Helmut Eichlseder from Graz University of Technology said that the large-scale need for “clean” electricity in Europe cannot be met. With e-fuels, the existing filling station infrastructure and the current fleet could be used. Jürgen Rechberger from AVL List explained how combustion engines can be operated in a CO2-neutral manner and that it is not the engines that are the problem, but the combustion of fossil fuels inside them: The sticking point: The production of e-fuels requires large amounts of energy - this must come from renewable sources.
2 euros per liter
If e-fuels are produced in Europe, Rechberger expects production costs of around 2 euros per liter. If they are imported from favored regions, he expects them to cost around one euro per liter because generating renewable electricity is cheaper there. According to Rechberger, the costs are roughly in the same range as those incurred for the production of fossil fuels. How much synthetic fuels will cost at the pump, however, will largely depend on taxation - for example, whether mineral oil tax will also have to be paid for them. Karl Dums from Porsche presented the Haru-Oni (“strong wind”) pilot project:
The world's first integrated commercial plant for the production of climate-neutral fuel is to be built in Chile, as there is an abundance of renewable energy there. Gerfried Jungmeier from Joanneum Research called for the whole thing to be looked at: Well-founded statements about the environmental impacts of various technologies can only be made as part of a life cycle analysis (LCA). This means that production, operation and recycling or disposal must be taken into account. According to Jungmeier, when viewed holistically, the car fleet in Austria currently causes greenhouse gas emissions of around 17 million tons of CO annually2-Equivalent. The results of the LCA-based scenarios show that climate neutrality is possible by 2040 with e-fuels and battery-electric vehicles. The biggest challenge: the rapid construction of e-fuel generation plants.