The debate surrounding synthetic fuels, also known as e-fuels, is currently a heated one. Advocates argue that they could be used to operate the vehicle fleet in a climate-neutral manner if produced using green electricity. They explain that e-fuels are a subgroup of synthetic fuels that use electrical energy to produce from carbon dioxide and water. Using electricity from renewable energy sources, water is split into oxygen and hydrogen, and carbon dioxide is then filtered out of the air and converted into e-fuels with the hydrogen.
However, opponents criticize the enormous energy requirement during production and the overall poor efficiency of e-fuels. They argue that in the foreseeable future, there will hardly be any excess green electricity available on a global scale to operate e-fuel production systems profitably. Furthermore, e-fuels’ production is very energy-intensive, and the level of efficiency from production to the wheel is well below that of a battery-electric car.
The only thing that is certain so far is that mass production of e-fuels is not imminent. The investments required for this are extremely high, and their production will not be cheap according to current estimates, even taking into account possible economies of scale.
E-fuels are a solution for parts of heavy goods traffic and individual motorization where it is difficult or impossible to decarbonize otherwise. They are also useful in racing and maintaining classic cars, where fuel costs play a minor role. However, e-fuels’ use in combustion engines may have a CO₂-neutral balance, but they do not change anything locally in terms of exhaust gases or the noise from combustion engines.
Currently, e-fuels are mostly only produced on a small scale, driving up costs significantly. However, Porsche wants to make e-fuels available to motorsport customers soon. If the plant in Chile is expanded as planned, around 800 million liters of e-fuels could be produced there every year. But, that would not be possible until the end of this decade at the earliest.
In conclusion, the debate about e-fuels is ongoing, and the use of e-fuels in driving energy turnaround is not yet clear. While e-fuels have advantages in specific situations, their high costs and low efficiency remain a barrier to wider adoption.
