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Future fuel or false promise?

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Editor’s message

Editor’s message

A new type of fuel could be coming to your local gas station

within the next decade. But while some experts are calling it a potential boom, others are predicting it will be a bust. Also known as synthetic fuel or synfuel, eFuel is being hailed as a nearly carbon neutral alternative to traditional gasoline, diesel and avgas, the fuel used for airplanes.

That praise is coming from a handful of automobile manufacturers, such as Porsche and Mazda, as well as other high-profile supporters including oil monolith ExxonMobil, automotive technology company Bosch and the Formula One World Championship race series.

In 2021, sports car manufacturer Porsche made headlines by announcing an investment in the world’s first commercial plant for producing eFuels. Last year, they increased their stake in the plant, which is located in southern Chile and relies solely on low-cost wind energy to produce the synthetic fuel.

Porsche sells a number of wildly compelling electrified models, notably the Taycan. But they see a Porsche eFuel as helping models such as the legendary 911 soldier on; they also envision a Porsche synthetic fuel helping the company achieve its objective of being entirely carbon neutral by 2030.

The plant in Chile will begin producing Porsche eFuel before the end of this year. But all of it will go directly to Porsche for testing and use in racing. The Spanish oil giant Repsol is building a synthetic fuel plant together with Saudi Arabian firm Aramco; this plant is scheduled to go online in 2024.

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Meanwhile, the Formula One series, already considered to be the most technologically advanced form of motorsport on the planet, has committed to switching to 100% sustainable fuel starting in 2025. This season, the high-revving hybrid F1 engines utilize 10% eFuel.

The potential benefits of eFuel are significant. The engineers at Porsche claim their eFuel offers “up to a 90% reduction in fossil CO2 emissions in combustion engines.” Right now, eFuel can power any internal combustion engine with only minor modifications required to the engine management system. As synthetic fuels are not derived from oil, they represent a potential net benefit to the planet.

Also, extending the life of existing vehicles means there’s no need for people to purchase new vehicles—that’s another aspect of a clean solution. In a similar vein, the existing network of refuelling stations wouldn’t need to be replaced— also clean.

Traditional fuels are hydrocarbons, composed of hydrogen and carbon atoms. Synthetic fuels get their hydrogen from water and their carbon from the air, using carbon capture technology. The production facilities, such as the one in Chile, combine the water and carbon, copying the exact chemical structure of gas, diesel or avgas.

On the other side of the ledger, there’s the lingering question of tailpipe emissions. Also, for the time being, producing a gallon of eFuel is wildly expensive compared to gasoline or diesel. Although the science behind synthetic fuels has been around for almost a full century, it hasn’t received consistent attention or investment over the years.

But there’s good news for every diehard fan of the internal combustion engine: From a technical and an environmental standpoint, eFuels already make sense, even if there are some bugs to iron out. Synthetic fuels will never be the only solution to the greenhouse gas situation or to the climate crisis, but they could yet play a role in the future. OCTANE

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