To try to increase the type of vehicles authorized from 2035, a German company has taken the measure to court, considering it an illegal measure. His manager is even tougher and considers that These measures are based on ideology, not facts.
Force to buy electric
As we say, the European Union ban will make many drivers choose to buy an electric car to comply with emissions measures. However, for the plaintiff company, Lühmann Gruppe, the Combustion engines that use e-fuel should continue to be permitted if what is intended is that greener mobility. Sustainable fuels, known as synthetic gasoline or e-fuel, could be the alternative to traditional hydrocarbons in cars with traditional engines.
Why then couldn’t e-fuel fuels be used? Because for it to be authorized, it must certify 100% neutral carbon emissions throughout its life cycle. Therefore, in practice, the only possibility of selling a new car from 2035 in Europe is for it to be 100% zero emissions, something only within the reach of an electric car (battery, solar energy or fuel cell). These types of fuels, although they emit carbon dioxide during combustion, have a lower overall carbon footprint than conventional fuels because they are produced using wind, solar and nuclear energy sources.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing was also initially in favor of synthetic fuels, as he advocates maintaining technological neutrality for not relying exclusively on electrification.
Benefits of e-fuel
It is a liquid fuel, similar with the difference that it does not come from fossil energy sources, but is obtained from a chemical process from hydrogen and the energy used for its manufacture is renewable. In this way, it is a clean fuel.
With an 80% reduction in pollution, this also called ‘green hydrogen’ obtained from this reaction is combined with CO2 from the air to produce synthetic methanol, which is then converted into e-fuel. This means that it can become an essential fuel for other transport, which cannot be electric, such as airplanes or ships since they require enormous autonomy that electrification cannot give. If the aforementioned transportation stops using traditional gasoline, using synthetic gasoline, pollution is reduced to a minimum.
As for the main drawbacks, beyond the lack of authorization for these purposes by the European Union, if we take a look at the process of obtaining e-fuel, we see that the production costs are the main problem with the adoption of this type. of fuel, which ends up being put into the driver’s pocket. The objective is to achieve an increasing availability of e-fuel worldwide, as well as a lowering the cost of production, and therefore the cost that the end user will have to pay to be able to use it in their car.
