Green electricity is in short supply

Green electricity is in short supply

"The challenge of climate neutrality as a whole and especially in mobility is huge. We will need all technologies that bring us closer to this goal and should not prematurely rule out technologies and solution paths," emphasized Bosch Chairman Stefan Hartung during his appearance in front of members of the Association of the Foreign Press at the Industrial Association in Vienna, and continued: "There will continue to be vehicles with combustion engines in the existing fleet and in other countries." The ÖVK chairman and organizer of the international Vienna Motor Symposium, Bernhard Geringer, also agreed: "The enormous stock - we are talking about 1.4 billion vehicles worldwide - also needs a path to rapid climate neutrality. E-fuels are an ideal solution here because they can be used immediately." Because an electric car powered by coal-fired electricity is just as bad a solution as a fuel cell vehicle powered by “gray” hydrogen from natural gas. You have to make system-related decisions.

The goal must be to bring “green” energy into every area of ​​our everyday life, Hartung continued: “This also includes offering the right drive solution for every application that enables CO2-neutral use. Electric drives with batteries and fuel cells, using green electricity and green hydrogen, pave the way for climate-neutral mobility and will continue to gain in importance.” The hydrogen engine would have great potential in construction vehicles and agricultural vehicles such as combine harvesters, which are heavy and need to operate at high power over difficult terrain for long periods of time. Geringer added: "There is not one way for all vehicles. It is important to use the optimal synergy of the respective strengths of the technologies."

E-fuels are also being discussed a lot for the mobility of tomorrow. However, one must be aware that Europe is not independent of other parts of the world, said Hartung: "We have little green electricity in Europe. The production of e-fuels is very electricity-intensive, but storage and transport is possible without any problems. It is not important where e-fuels are produced, as long as the production is sustainable. Countries with a lot of sun or wind will have an advantage here." Bernhard Geringer sees a major advantage in using e-fuels due to the high energy density: “A large wind turbine or PV system takes several months to fill a large tanker with e-fuel.” This example shows the advantage of synthetic fuels in storage and transport compared to hydrogen or even electricity.