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
- 2:24路透拆解華為最新手機 中國國產零件比例增多「自給自足」取得進展Yahoo奇摩(國際通)91,999 次觀看・22 小時前
- 2:05萬華黑幫勢力複雜! 三大傳統角頭各據山頭華視影音8,306 次觀看・1 天前
- 2:25科學家發現抹香鯨「溝通密碼」AI分析8700聲音片段揭「拼音字母表」Yahoo奇摩(國際通)31,982 次觀看・22 小時前
- 1:05何超蓮慶生同框老公竇驍破婚變 33歲生日願望讓人森77娛樂星聞6,288 次觀看・17 小時前
- 3:34習近平結束訪歐之行,為何選擇這三個國家?BBC NEWS 中文3,777 次觀看・10 小時前
- 1:37詐了又詐!設局約面交 警逮19歲金髮女車手|#鏡新聞鏡新聞71,371 次觀看・21 小時前
- 1:05Winter說自己好累哥哥暖心安慰 爸爸引用房時爀「把aespa踩在腳下」名言網友笑翻娛樂星聞8,746 次觀看・1 天前
- 2:50不畏國民黨的打壓阻撓 反對勢力CC派的崛起與抗衡之路民視影音10,012 次觀看・10 小時前
- 1:49上市公司大股東夫婦遭詐 騙光6千萬養老金東森新聞影音15,199 次觀看・13 小時前
- 3:10國民黨操縱選舉的奧步大揭密!揭一黨獨大下的統治黑幕?民視影音5,260 次觀看・10 小時前