The government wants to bring forward the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2035 to 2030, arguing the transition to zero-emission vehicles “will play a critical role in reducing carbon emissions and improving our energy security”.
Regardless of whether the ban comes into force in 2030 or 2035, however, the days of new combustion-powered cars appear to be almost over. Furthermore, the infrastructure that supports the running of petrol and diesel cars will shrink, as investment is ploughed into electric cars and the charging network.
At the very least, we’re likely to see a reduction in the number of filling stations. The cost of filling your tank will also increase as traditional fuels become less mainstream. In extreme circumstances, petrol and diesel could be banned or rendered socially unacceptable by environmental lobbyists.
This is where synthetic fuels come in. But what are they – and could they save cars as we know them? With the help of researcher Eloise Methven, we have explored all you need to know about synthetic fuels.
What are synthetic fuels?
As the name suggests, synthetic fuels are liquid or gaseous fuels that are produced artificially, rather than extracted from crude oil or natural gas. In the case of cars, the most common type is called e-fuel, which is designed to be compatible with internal combustion engines without modification.
Rather than taking hydrocarbons (hydrogen and carbon) from crude oil, synthetic fuel uses a process that combines hydrogen harvested from water with carbon dioxide taken from the air. This is then refined into petrol and diesel to be pumped into your fuel tank.
Because carbon was extracted from the air during the production process, this helps to offset the carbon emissions during combustion, making synthetic fuels a more sustainable solution.
In other cases, e-fuels are produced using waste materials, including used vegetable oil and food waste, which is mixed with ethanol to produce biofuel.
How is synthetic fuel produced?
To produce synthetic fuel you need electricity, ideally from a renewable source, which separates the oxygen and hydrogen particles of water by electrolysis to create renewable hydrogen.
This is combined with carbon dioxide captured from the oil or via an industrial facility. The resultant synthetic fuel can be used to power cars, commercial vehicles, boats and aircraft.
Who is using synthetic and e-fuels?
While you can’t drive into your local petrol station to fill up with synthetic fuel, it has been embraced in classic car and motorsport circles. Take Mazda UK, which is using sustainable petrol from Coryton Fuels to fuel the 15 cars on its heritage fleet.
Coryton’s Sustain biofuel is created using 80 percent agricultural waste, such as straw, by-products and waste from crops. These materials wouldn’t be used for animal or human consumption, and the UK-based company says it offers a reduction of at least 65 percent in greenhouse gas emissions when compared to fossil fuels.
In 2022, Porsche invested more than 100 million US dollars in a new e-fuels pilot plant in Chile, with the aim of producing 130,000 litres of sustainable fuel. The plan is to increase that to 55 million litres by 2026, then 10 times that amount by 2028. Basing the plant in Chile was a strategic decision, as the high density of sun and wind makes it an ideal location for the production of renewable energy.
Michael Steiner, Porsche research executive, said: “The potential of e-fuels is huge. There are currently more than 1.3 billion vehicles with combustion engines worldwide. Many of these will be on the roads for decades to come, and e-fuels offer the owners of existing cars nearly a carbon-neutral alternative.”
Audi is another company at the forefront of e-fuel development, particularly in the field of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil). By incorporating hydrogen, waste cooking oil from the food industry or residues from agriculture are converted into aliphatic hydrocarbons to make them suitable for use in diesel engines.
HVO diesel is available at around 600 filling stations in Europe, with most of them located in Scandinavia, where environmental requirements are particularly stringent.
What’s good about synthetic fuels?
The advantages of synthetic fuels include:
- Lower carbon footprint – they can be carbon-neutral if produced using captured carbon dioxide and renewable energy
- Compatible with existing petrol and diesel engines – no modifications required
- Reduces our reliance on oil, making it a viable alternative to fossil fuels
- A familiar experience – the car will sound, feel and behave like a traditional petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle
What’s bad about synthetic fuels?
The disadvantages of synthetic fuels include:
- E-fuels are expensive due to cost and complexity of production
- Limited availability – synthetic fuel technology is still relatively new, so fuels are not readily available
- Not totally green – synthetic fuels still emit gases that are harmful to the environment, such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide, and require large amounts of energy to produce
Can synthetic fuels save the combustion car?
Right now, at between £2.50 and £3.50 per litre (before local taxes), synthetic fuels are too expensive to be a realistic alternative to traditional petrol and diesel. However, as the tech improves and demand increases, the cost is likely to come down.
At the very least, synthetic fuels should give car enthusiasts hope that they continue to enjoy their cars for many years to come.
But the biggest issue is the environmental impact, especially if the electricity required for production isn’t sourced from renewable energy. The carbon-neutral nature of its carbon dioxide emissions is a positive – as is the reduction in demand for fossil fuels – but a car running on synthetic fuel will not offer the same air quality benefits as an electric car.
So, they aren’t a saviour for the car as we know it, but synthetic fuels could be the alternative when the oil wells run dry.
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