Synthetic fuel debate rages in Europe

THE debate surrounding the push towards synthetic fuels, or e-fuels as they are commonly known, is hotting up in Europe. While supporters of e-fuels say the technology is the only way to decarbonise internal combustion engines, critics say they are a costly distraction from a global shift towards electrification.

A report published by Automotive News Europe (ANE) this week says the recent decision by the European Commission to allow an exemption for cars running on e-fuels to qualify for sale after 2025 has given new hope to ICE-powered vehicles, but cautions that fuels produced from water, carbon dioxide and large amounts of energy may “come at too great a cost”.

The argument centres around the point that the production of e-fuel will divert sustainably sourced electricity from “more pressing uses”, noting that vehicles operating on synthetic fuels still produce pollutants including nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide.

However, supporters of the technology insist the plug-and-play solution is an effective means of decarbonising hundreds of millions of ICE-powered cars, as well as other transportation such as freight, shipping and aviation.

While it is not yet clear what e-fuel regulations might look like, or indeed when they will be finalised, prominent backers of the technology – most notably Ferrari and Porsche – see synthetic fuels as a ‘stop gap’ of sorts, and a way of continuing to sell their high-status ICE powered models.

“I know no other possibility to decarbonise combustion-engine cars,” said Porsche and Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume at the company’s annual results conference in March.

“This is very good for us, because you can run a thermal car with a fuel that is carbon neutral,” said Ferraro CEO Benedetto Vigna in May.

But according to ANE, it is not just high-end sports car manufacturers that stand to benefit from synthetic fuels.

The CEOs of Stellantis and Renault have also indicated that e-fuels are a valid solution to decarbonising existing ICE powertrains, although both stopped short of explicitly endorsing their use in new cars after 2035.

Like Ferrari and Porsche, Renault is working with a partner to develop e-fuels.

“It is good news, but not only good news for Ferrari and Porsche,” said Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo last month, noting that several Renault Group brands would seek to switch to electrification “as late as possible”.

Similarly, Stellantis said in April it was completing testing of e-fuels on a range of engine families, while hastening to add that it remains committed to selling only battery electric vehicles in Europe by the end of the decade.

“By working to make sure our Stellantis engines are e-fuels friendly, we are aiming at giving our customers another tool in the fight against global warming,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.

But critics of the technology – and decisions to permit some manufacturers from running liquid fuels beyond the electrification deadline – have expressed their dismay, saying such moves divert resources from the scaling up of battery electric vehicle production.

Environmental group Transport & Environment executive director, William Todts, wrote in March that, “the e-fuels lobby’s backers, mainly the oil industry, are not looking for a fair contest between e-fuels and electric vehicles – they are looking to derail mass electrification”.

Though not everyone is convinced that electrification is the key.

Ralf Diemer, the managing director of the e-fuels Alliance – a lobbying group of 180 members, including Porsche and 14 others that are directly involved in the automotive industry, as well as energy companies – says that e-fuels make more sense when viewed from a “cradle to grave” perspective.

“The question of how the steel for a car is produced is as relevant as the kind of fuel that car uses,” Mr Diemer told Automotive News Europe.

He said a modified well-to-wheel measurement of fuels that includes how a fuel or energy source is produced would help “narrow any gap to batteries”, and said, “decorbonsation shouldn’t be a zero-sum game”.

While acknowledging that e-fuels are currently too expensive for mainstream use, Mr Diemer said the price would come down as the scale of the technology grows, suggesting lower taxation rates on e-fuels (versus fossil fuels) as another measure.

Mr Diemer said he believed e-fuels could also help break Europe’s dependence on energy supplies from other countries – including natural gas from Russia – by importing e-fuels from countries where solar and wind generation was more favourable.

“When it comes to renewables, we have to think completely differently. We can bring in partners that are politically more leaning toward our thinking,” he said.

And it seems at least one vehicle manufacturer agrees with Mr Diemer’s sentiments.

Renault Group chief technology officer, Gilles Le Borgne, told ANE that the compatibility with existing technology is a tick in the box for synthetic fuels. He said Renault’s own compatibility testing proved the technology is ready to go and believes a broader cradle-to-grave approach in Europe is something many appear to have overlooked.

“We know the advantages (because) we have done our own life-cycle analysis,” he said.

“It is just a tuning matter. It is not a problem of hardware. The bottom line is that they (e-fuel compatible engines) are a ‘drop in’ solution.”

Mr Le Borgne told Automotive News Europe that by measuring every aspect of a vehicle’s environmental impact, including its initial production and end-of-life credentials, is a far more sensible approach than simply focusing on its tailpipe emissions or “tank-to-wheel” statistics.

He said we must consider the energy used in mining and producing steel, aluminium and other materials, any EV batteries and the assembly process thereof, as well as the energy and resource used in generating fuel – renewable or otherwise – or electricity, and overall fuel and energy usage.

“If you have a 150kWh battery (in an EV), you have a big amount of CO2 to reimburse from day one. If you recognise cradle-to-grave (measures) for e-fuels, then you could be ahead. If not, then it doesn’t make sense as a solution,” he proffered.

As the Automotive News Europe report points out, the primary stumbling block for the success of synthetic fuels is the allocation of resources, renewable or otherwise.

Speaking with technological consultancy firm, Capgemini Engineering, the report says the production of e-fuels only makes sense when adequate amounts of green energy are available.

“The process of producing e-fuels is only viable under the precondition that green energy is available in surplus and in abundance,” said Capgemini Engineering vice president, Peter Fintl, while at the same time highlighting the vast differences between the energy efficiency of electric motors against those that operate on liquid fuels.

“If you take a kilowatt of electricity from an EV, let’s say from source to wheel, it is always around 75 per cent of the energy that propels the vehicle. If you look at e-fuels, it is maybe 10 to 15 per cent at best,” he emphasised.

Germany’s largest automotive club, Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club (ADAC), recently released findings that show how many vehicles could be powered by a 3.0MW wind turbine per year: 1600 BEVs, 600 FCEVs or just 250 ICE cars operating on e-fuels.

In Mr Fintl’s view, the development of ‘green’ hydrogen – which could be used in fuel cell vehicles and a host of other uses – is a better use of renewables.

“For every thousand Euros you spend on e-fuels development, you are missing that budget in other areas. In the end, electrification is cheaper, more efficient, and just better,” he stated.

The next decision on e-fuels sits with the European Commission, which has vowed to create an exemption for their use in its 2035 regulations mandating that all new cars sold be zero emission.

According to a document seen by Reuters earlier this year, the EU plans to create a category for cars that can run only on carbon-neutral (wet) fuels. It will then present a regulation showing how these cars could contribute to the 2035 target – and how the technology could play a small but important role in decarbonising the internal combustion engine more than 150 years after its inception.

With Automotive News Europe.