E-fuels are not a good alternative to electric
Synthetic fuels for cars are not a good alternative to electric driving. That is the conclusion of a meta-study that brought together the results of various studies on the subject by the Forum Ökologisch-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS).
The meta-study included findings from the International Energy Agency, research institute Fraunhofer and ADAC (the German ANWB).
From 2035, new cars may only be marketed in the European Union if they are emission-free. The development of e-fuels would then offer opportunities to still continue marketing cars with combustion engines, as the synthetic fuels ensure that the car in question runs CO2 neutral.
In practice, however, this is not going to work, FÖS observes. The development of e-fuels comes too late, availability is very limited and the fuels are also far too expensive to compete with electric driving.“Their low efficiency and high resource requirements are also bad for the environment.”
Indispensable in shipping and aviation
That is not to say that synthetic fuels cannot play a role in the energy and climate transition. For cars, this will involve a very limited fleet of remaining internal combustion engines, and that is still with the most optimistic scenarios in mind.
More opportunities, however, lie in shipping and aviation. In fact, FÖS calls e-fuels “indispensable” for those sectors because full electrification by 2035 is not feasible for ships and planes. FÖS therefore suggests that the focus for synthetic fuels be shifted entirely to those applications.“Therefore, electrification of cars and the shift in transport should be accelerated so that e-fuels can play the intended role in climate protection,” FÖS advises.
