Can e-fuels help make cars CO2-neutral?
STORY: The European Union has plans to create a new vehicle category – cars that run on carbon neutral e-fuels.
The proposal is part of the EU's effort to resolve a spat with Germany
over moves to phase out combustion engine cars.
The new plan would allow sales of new cars with internal combustion engines after 2035
if they run only on climate neutral e-fuels.
So what exactly are e-fuels?
E-kerosene, e-methane, or e-methanol are all examples of e-fuels.
They are produced using renewable electricity from hydrogen and captured CO2 emissions.
The fuels release CO2 into the atmosphere when used in an engine.
But the idea is that those emissions are equal to the amount taken out of the atmosphere to produce the fuel.
That makes them CO2-neutral overall.
The technology is at an early stage of development
and e-fuels are not yet produced at scale.
Most major carmakers are betting on battery-electric vehicles - a technology that is already widely available.
But suppliers and oil majors defend e-fuels, as well as a number of carmakers who don't want their vehicles weighed down by heavy batteries.
Carmakers such as Piech, Porsche and Mazda are broadly supportive of the technology.
The world's first commercial plant opened in Chile in 2021, backed by Porsche.
And BMW has invested $12.5 million in e-fuel startup Prometheus Fuels, while also investing billions in battery-electric technology.
So can e-fuels truly make our cars green?
Supporters say e-fuels offer a route to cut the CO2 emissions of our existing cars, without the need to replace every car with an electric one.
Critics highlight that manufacturing e-fuels is very expensive and energy-intensive.
And some argue e-fuels should be reserved for hard-to-decarbonize sectors, like shipping and aviation – not cars.
Here is Greenpeace spokesperson Benjamin Stephan.
"We will need e-fuels, but a lot of them in aviation, where we have no alternatives. In cars, this solution is completely inefficient because we need a lot of electricity to produce it. And an electric car would go five times as far on the same amount of electricity."
相關影片推薦
- 1:11直擊漢莎航空班機「觸地重飛」重重落地即刻拉升超驚險Yahoo奇摩(國際通)22,572 次觀看・12 小時前
- 1:39龍德造船製"不倒翁船"360度翻轉扶正 被讚台灣之光民視影音46,869 次觀看・14 小時前
- 1:39民宅後方變懸崖! 木瓜溪旁地基嚴重崩落恐崩塌民視影音23,113 次觀看・15 小時前
- 1:11林志穎、郝劭文30年後再度同框 網友驚嘆時光靜止「他吃防腐劑長大」娛樂星聞6,097 次觀看・9 小時前
- 2:14比利時男子患罕病「自動釀酒症候群」身體自產酒精 酒駕獲判無罪Yahoo奇摩(國際通)29,733 次觀看・14 小時前
- 2:16「無聊手機」亮相 不能上網助青年「數位排毒」Yahoo奇摩(國際通)8,342 次觀看・12 小時前
- 2:05雨彈炸中部! 中彰苗傳災情 氣象署:週五雨最大華視影音32,113 次觀看・10 小時前
- 23:55地震搖不停 台積電員工聽到公務機鈴聲《台積心靈捕手》響起 半夜也要去 熊本廠日本員工只走SOP 台人扛重擔|鏡轉全球鏡新聞85,222 次觀看・1 天前
- 1:51獨家》花蓮最高「蓮花大樓」磁磚震落 被貼黃單居民撤離東森新聞影音8,680 次觀看・7 小時前
- 接行政院秘書長一職 龔明鑫曝徵詢過程 台灣未來二十年發展仍樂觀!「下階段是數位、淨零轉型」【齊有此理】齊有此理123,461 次觀看・2 天前
熱門必看
- 2:47唐綺陽運勢 / 本週星座運勢:4/22~4/28一周星象預報!適逢節氣交替,多注意身體健康!唐綺陽談星室47,925 次觀看・5 天前
- 8:18精華|12星座女孩的專屬療傷情歌!天秤連分手都要很美!?唐綺陽談星室30,597 次觀看・6 天前
- 0:25香菜控一定要來!這個香腸直接大加分板橋Edenx食旅7,754 次觀看・1 天前
- 23:232024北海道巴士旅✨阿寒湖、釧路夢幻雪景不自駕也能去|幣舞橋、釧路和商市場、勝手丼、釧路濕原、阿寒湖、鶴見台、釧路漁人碼頭MOO、北海道壽司|北海道道東・Japan 4K vlog吉田社長交朋友5,877 次觀看・2 天前
- 14:01邱宇辰、黃宏軒演出腐女心中的幻想!超禁忌兄弟戀讓唐老師興奮到模糊!?Ep.215-1唐綺陽談星室41,629 次觀看・2 天前