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Source: Akitada31

Synthetic fuels could be the future for the climate and save many combustion engines in the process

The car industry is gearing up for a future with e-mobility. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that there are still many combustion engines on the roads. Following the ruling that only e-cars may be registered from 2035, car manufacturers are generally preparing to produce only battery-powered models. Not to be forgotten, however, are all the cars that are on the road as combustion engines and are not yet too old, so that they can still be driven for a few years. But not only those cars are to be saved. The same applies to tankers, tanker vehicles and petrol stations.  A synthetic fuel obtained from wind and solar energy could be useful for these cars. It is produced by a consortium of several partners in a pilot plant that has been built. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is addressing this issue in a research project. This project is called "reFuels - rethinking fuels". "ReFuels" means as much as renewable, non-fossil fuels. However, the enormous cost hurdle is still a deterrent. Nevertheless, it should be seriously considered whether the possibility of saving the climate and the national wealth is not even more significant. The production process is called electrolysis, which requires electricity that can be obtained from wind turbines, for example. The fuel is supposed to be climate-neutral for the following reason. The CO2 that cars previously emitted is to be used in the production process. This CO2 is then combined with hydrogen, which is obtained by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The cost of synthetic fuel is around 80 cents per litre. That is only 20 cents more than for conventional fuel, if taxes are not included. After production in Chile already started in December last year, the largest plant in Germany is to be built in Karlsruhe. Here, more than 60 million litres of the fuel are to be produced annually. It should also be remembered that this new fuel can disrupt and renew supply chains. The dependence on countries with many oil wells decreases and some new countries may also seize the opportunity to enter the market due to natural circumstances, for example because there is a lot of wind. Final, this synthetic fuel could seriously prompt positive thinking about the future. Not only is it possible to save millions of cars from being scrapped, it is also a huge step forward for the climate.