Are summary fuels more ecological than the electric car

Out of costs, The energy efficiency of synthetic fuels is another issue important. The overall energy efficiency of the production process is lower than that of fossil fuels, especially due to energy losses during electrolysis and CO2 conversion to hydrocarbons. This means that E-Fuals require more energy to be produced than traditional fuels, which could limit their large-scale deployment.

Automobile: synthetic fuel, a revolution ?

It is an oil -free fuel already popular with luxury brands and presented as fuel of the future by its manufacturers. The product is synthetic and the carbon footprint officially neutral.

Is it the fuel of the future, the one that will make it possible to operate our petrol or diesel engines without polluting ? Or on the contrary a false promise highlighted by car manufacturers to avoid the transition to all electric ? In a research center in western Germany, around 100 million euros have been invested for the development of these synthetic fuels.

A neutral carbon assessment

To make them, you must first capture CO2. “We use CO2 and hydrogen. These fuels are a neutral CO2 solution because the gas is drawn from the ambient air “, explains Roland Dittmeyer, Director Institute for Micro Process Engineering Karlsruhe (Germany). Tests confirm this: current thermal engines can work with these new fuels. They always reject CO2 but no more than it takes to make it. The carbon footprint is therefore neutral. But its price would tackle the three euros per liter.

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Are summary fuels more ecological than the electric car ?

It is now (almost) acted in Europe, new thermal cars will be prohibited for sale in 2035. The electric car will have already taken the leadership by then, but other alternatives will have been able to emerge by then. And, why not synthesis fuels ? But are they really more ecological than the electric car ?

As you are surely without knowing if you assiduously follow automotive news in 2035, manufacturers will have the prohibition to sell new thermal cars in Europe. The text was adopted by the European Parliament and the European Commission. This regulation will obviously benefit the electric car industry.

If practically all manufacturers have today started their energy transition, some legitimately ask the question of alternatives, like Toyota. Indeed, the future seems only promised to the electric car, and the few credible alternatives which seem to point the tip of their nose today are not mature enough to register in the short term like another choice for electric.

The hydrogen car, for example, interests many manufacturers, but, for the moment, the development of this technology remains very on the surface, especially due to development costs much higher than those of an electric car and the drawbacks that it results.

And, if the real alternative could ultimately come from thermal engines ? With more than 100 years of research and development in this industry, the heat engine is, for the moment, dedicated to disappear. At least in Europe at first. But if a technology was to “save” the heat engine, will the European Parliament return to its decision ? Or at least, he will adapt his decision to better welcome what can be a credible alternative to the electric car ?

This technology, It is synthetic fuel (or also called “e-fuel”), synthetic fuels produced from water following a series of chemical processes. And in recent weeks, Germany and Italy, accompanied behind the scenes by Porsche and Ferrari, have put pressure on the European Union. So much so that summary fuels could be authorized after 2035. Which would therefore not sign the end of combustion engines.

What is synthetic fuel ?

E-fuels, also known as electro-fuel or, more simply, synthetic fuels, are fuels artificially produced thanks to the use of “Power-to-X” technology from a base Municipality: Water. Thanks to a chemical electrolysis process triggered by the use of electricity produced from renewable sources (if not, there would be no environmental advantages), water is divided into oxygen and green hydrogen.

Hydrogen, thanks to the Fischer-Tropsch process (which consists in involving the reduction by heterogeneous catalysis of carbon monoxide by hydrogen in order to convert them into hydrocarbons) is combined with CO₂ taken from the environment or stored thanks to carbon capture technology, thus creating a gas which, depending on the process of chemical synthesis and subsequent refining, is transformed into e-fuel. E-fuels are produced without oil or biomass, but from CO₂ and low-carbon electricity. We will see it below, but the notion of low-carbon electricity is very important.

Is it compatible with a thermal car ?

The answer is yes, and their chemical specificities can even be superior to those of diesel and without-procure. These fuel being synthetic, we can put “what we want” in it, namely Elements that burn perfectly in an engine and to the right energy efficiency.

On the other hand, E-Fuel does not allow us to reduce polluting discharges to the exhaust, like those of nitrogen oxides (NOX) or particles. Interest is therefore to reduce polluting emissions at the time of the manufacturing process. For example, synthetic fuel could make current thermal models almost climaticly neutral thanks to the upstream CO capture₂, CO₂ which will then be used to produce synthetic fuel again, which will then be rejected to the exhaust, as on conventional thermal cars. CO2 which will then be captured to produce e-fuel again, and so on.

It is still necessary that this technology is available en masse, which is not yet the case.

What are the car manufacturers who work there ?

There are many of them, and they have been working there for longer than it seems since their work started when the first alarm bells on the need to decarbonize the transport sector began to sound ten years ago. Even before the expensive, but necessary, electric transition, The manufacturers have started looking for new technologies likely to offer a viable alternative to thermal motors.

Today, several development and production projects of these environmentally friendly artificial fuels have emerged. One of the first to have embarked on this path is Audi. The rings firm produces synthetic fuels within several European factories, especially in France, in a factory located near Reims. The volumes, however, remain marginal enough to hope for mass production.

Audi is part of the Volkswagen group, and other brands have looked at the subject of summary fuels. Porsche is one of the most active and has launched a pilot project with Siemens Energy to build a synthetic fuel production plant in Chile, which should produce up to 550 million liters of fuel by 2026. At first, this fuel will only serve to feed the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of La Supercup, one of the many monotypes championships organized by the manufacturer.

What are the other interested industries ?

In addition to our thermal engines, summary fuels can also be a lasting solution for sectors not having other alternatives to reduce their CO emissions₂. Heavy and long distance mobility (terrestrial, sea, air), for example, Meeting decarbonation problems and electrification will require 10 to 20 years to adapt their engines and recharge infrastructure. The same goes for hydrogen, which will claim several decades before democratizing or not, in these industries.

Again, synthetic fuel therefore appears as A transitional solution that will not have the aim of competing with electricity or hydrogen, But to offer a sustainable low-carbon solution for sectors that will not be able to adopt other short and medium-term decarbonation strategies.

The most significant example is surely the aeronautical sector. This industry has very few alternatives to kerosene, especially on long-haul devices. Electric or hydrogen are not yet possible alternatives for this type of use. These energies would require making significant changes to the entire energy delivery infrastructure, the design of tanks, and even aircraft in the broader direction of the term.

With electricity, the amount of energy embedded in the tank is lower than kerosene due to lower energy density. Thus, to browse the same distance, the energy tanks, in this case the batteries, occupy a volume at least 3 to 4 times higher than the reservoirs of Kérosene.

With summary fuels, in this case synthetic kerosene, this overall makes things easier since the molecule is the same, But produced differently. Therefore, there is no need to change the long-haul fleets.

What are the advantages of synthetic fuels

Water and CO₂ are the only sources of material to produce synthetic fuels unlike oil and its fossil derivatives which have important impurities in sulfur and nitrogen and which must be eliminated during refining.

Indeed, there is many CO₂ used for synthesis, and this can be of different origins (fossil, biological or atmospheric), but Synthetic fuels are characterized by a reduced carbon footprint over their entire manufacturing cycle of at least 70 % compared to oil fuels.

And as these can replace oil fuels directly, It is therefore a serious and effective alternative for the reduction of transport emissions. Synthetic fuel does not mobilize fossil resources such as gas or oil and benefits from the same energy qualities.

What are the disadvantages of synthetic fuels

On the other hand, it takes energy to produce this summary fuel. E-fuels, products from CO₂, will strongly request the production of low-carbon electricity for the manufacture of hydrogen or the electrolysis of the CO₂. In a current context where it is requested to save energy, the development of synthetic fuel could be slowed down, to precisely favor more democratized and more advanced technologies like the electric car.

These needs must therefore be planned and anticipated. Good news, France is one of the good students in this area, to the point of becoming one of the leaders. For what ? Because the carbon intensity of a synthetic fuel is very dependent on that of electricity. And as you are surely without knowing it, in France, our electricity is one of the most decarbonized.

Are synthetic fuels ecological ?

The effect would be completely inverse in Germany for example, where coal power plants are still rampant in the country. Producing e-fuels from electricity from coal power plants would not have much ecological interest, Especially since the amount of energy necessary to make a liter of e-fuel is substantial, in this case 20 kWh.

20 kWh is the consumption of an electric car at 130 km/h over about 100 km. By making a quick calculation, we notice that even if the production of synthetic fuel has a lower environmental impact compared to traditional fuels, for a thermal car which consumes for example 6.0 l/100 km, it will therefore have taken 120 kWh for make these 6 liters of e-fuel, either an electricity consumption five times higher than that of an electric car to perform the same distance.

This is what Capgemini confirms to the media Automotive News. According to him, the total efficiency of an electric car is around 75 %, compared to 10 to 15 % for a car turning to the e-fuel. Or a higher energy consumption, against summary fuel.

Above, we have given you the example of Porsche who chose to install her efuel manufacturing-pilot factory in Chile. Why Chile ? Because it is a particularly windy region and wind turbines provide 3.5 times more electricity there than if they were located in Germany. This energy could also avoid being lost, because the low population density located nearby does not allow it to be used directly.

However, there remains a drawback: the transport of fuel to Europe which strikes the virtuous character of the equation. We therefore come back to the above chapter, where, in the long term, the summary fuel will certainly have more credibility for maritime or air transport, two sectors where electricity seems to be not very possible in the short and medium term. But one thing seems certain, in the current state, if the resources in electricity to manufacture e-fuel do not decrease, There is not really any interest in favoring synthetic fuels to electric cars.

Especially since the price of summary fuel will surely be very expensive, because of their very complex and very costly production. Certain estimates announce a price doubled in relation to gasoline. Without forgetting that they will still continue to pollute, notably by giving off nitrogen oxides and other fine particles.

As can be seen on the graph above, in terms of CO2 emissions, a recent study of Transport & Environment concludes that the electric car emits less CO2, on the whole of its life cycle, than its thermal counterpart. Even if it rolls with synthetic fuel made from “clean” electricity (solar and wind).

Another pitfall of synthetic fuel: their too low production capacity available by 2035. As indicated Transport & Environment Based on manufacturers’ predictions, synthetic fuel production in 2035 is sufficient to roll … 2 % of the fleet ! This figure rises to 3 % if we take into account rechargeable hybrid cars, since it is they would be affected by this type of fuel.

Finally, what remains for summary fuels ? Not much, except to allow manufacturers to continue to offer thermal engines.

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By the way, what are synthetic fuels (e-fuel) ?

Supported by certain European countries in the energy transition of the automotive industry, synthetic fuels are a lot talking about them. But what is it exactly ? We tell you everything.

Posted on April 4, 2023 at 1:30 p.m

Synthetic fuels (E-Fuels) are Fuels produced from CO2 and hydrogen, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

They can be used in traditional internal combustion engines, offering a more specific alternative to fossil fuels. Despite challenges in terms of costs and efficiency, E-Fuels could play an important role in the energy transition.

But what is synthetic fuel ? What are the advantages ? Its disadvantages ? Why does it oppose it to electrical energy in the automotive industry ? We take stock.

Synthetic fuels, what is it ?

Synthetic fuels, also called E-Fuels, are fuels produced from CO2 and hydrogen. CO2 generally comes from industrial or ambient air sources, while hydrogen is obtained by water electrolysis, using electricity from renewable sources. The mixture of these two elements makes it possible to obtain synthetic hydrocarbons, as methanol, ethanol or liquid fuels similar to traditional essences and gas.

The main advantage of synthetic fuels lies in their ability to Reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Indeed, during their combustion, they release the same amount of CO2 that they captured during their production. Thus, using E-Fuals, the carbon footprint of transport can be reduced, while taking advantage of existing internal infrastructure and internal combustion engines.

E-fuels for traditional engines

One of the major advantages of synthetic fuel is their compatibility with traditional internal combustion engines. Indeed, E-fuelles can be used in current engines without major modification, offering a more specific alternative to fossil fuels.

Using synthetic fuels would therefore extend the lifespan of existing vehicles, while waiting for alternative technologies, such as electric or hydrogen vehicles, democratize.

In addition, synthetic fuels can be mixed with traditional fuels, which could facilitate their progressive adoption. For example, a mixture containing 20 % e-fuel and 80 % classic gasoline would significantly reduce CO2 emissions, without disturbing the operation of the engines. Ultimately, it would even be possible to fully replace fossil fuels with E-Fuels.

Challenges to take up

Despite their assets, synthetic fuels must still overcome certain challenges before becoming a largely adopted solution. First of all, their production cost is currently higher than that of fossil fuels, in particular due to the investments necessary to develop production and distribution infrastructure.

Who says high production cost says price to the higher pump. On average, it is estimated that synthetic fuels could, at a time when we write these lines, cost up to four times more expensive than petrol. A fuel at 8 euros per liter ? Yes, it may get stuck.

However, with the rise of renewable energies and the improvement of technologies, it is likely that costs decrease in the future.

Out of costs, The energy efficiency of synthetic fuels is another issue important. The overall energy efficiency of the production process is lower than that of fossil fuels, especially due to energy losses during electrolysis and CO2 conversion to hydrocarbons. This means that E-Fuals require more energy to be produced than traditional fuels, which could limit their large-scale deployment.

Finally, it should be noted that E-Fuels compete with other sustainable mobility solutions, like electric vehicles (VE) or hydrogen vehicles. The VE benefit from better energy efficiency and are increasingly popular, while hydrogen vehicles have the advantage of being able to be supplied quickly and to have greater autonomy. The e-fuels will therefore have to find their place in an increasingly diverse energy landscape.

Electric vs e-fuel cars: why choose ?

In Europe, when thermal vehicles are promised to be stopped in 2035, the e-fuel and the electric are two solutions that created some tensions between the member states. Some, as France are betting everything on 100% electric vehicles. Others, like Germany, believe more in synthetic fuels.

But which of these solutions is the most relevant and the most realistic for the automotive sector ? The answer in fact depends on four factors: ecological, economic, industrial and political.

From an ecological point of view, the electric seems to have an advantage on the e-fuel, because it avoids direct emissions of CO2 and exhaust pollutants. Electricity also has a better energy efficiency than e-fuel, which requires a lot of electricity for its production.

However, let’s not forget that electricity depends on the electricity source used for recharging batteries and the manufacture and recycling of the latter. In France, where electricity is mainly produced thanks to nuclear power, electricity has meaning. In Germany, where carbon factories are carbiling, this solution is less relevant.

From an economic point of view, electric has a lower production and use cost than e-fuel, which is still very expensive to manufacture and distribute. The electric also benefits from favorable incentive and regulatory measures, such as the ecological bonus or the emission standards. But electricity is also technical and practical constraints, such as limited autonomy, recharge time or lack of infrastructure.

On the industrial component, electricity represents a major challenge for car manufacturers, which must adapt their models and factories to this new technology. The electric also implies a break with the historical and cultural heritage of brands, especially those that focus on driving pleasure or performance. E-fuel, on the contrary, helps keep existing thermal engines and make them cleaner. A significant advantage.

Finally (and this is undoubtedly the most important component) Political orientations will have a considerable weight on the future of these two solutions. The electric is supported by the majority of European countries and is considered the most efficient and fastest path to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. E-Fuel, on the other hand, is defended by certain countries, such as Germany or Chile, which see in this industrial fuel and a transitional solution.

What future for synthetic fuels ?

And if the real solution was to adopt these two methods ? It is likely that electric and synthetic fuels coexist in the future, but with variable market share according to the sectors and uses. For passenger cars, the electric seems to be one step ahead of the e-fuel.

But the latter could find its place in specific niches, such as collector vehicles and high -end models for the automotive industry, but also in aviation or navy where electrical or hydrogen solutions would be more complicated to put in place.

So, E-Fuels could constitute a complement to other sustainable mobility solutions, contributing to the decarbonation of the transport sector. To achieve this, it will be essential to support the research and development of production technologies, to encourage investments in infrastructure and to set up incentive policies to promote the adoption of synthetic fuels.