How E-Fuels Could Save the Internal Combustion Engine

As lovers of the oily stuff, we’ve been following the development of e-fuels with great interest. The potential to keep internal combustion engines alive while also reducing emissions is a major winner for us. This could be a major boom for us automotive anoraks who love the sound and feel of a traditional dino’ juice engine.

What are e-fuels?

E-fuels are made by combining hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen is produced using electrolysis, which uses electricity to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The carbon dioxide can be captured from the atmosphere or from industrial sources using large ‘carbon capture’ machines – basically like a load of fans stacked together.

Yes, when burned they emit the same emissions that a regular petrol powered car would. But they only put out what we put in. Let me explain: we take the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and when it is burned by the car, it re-enters the atmosphere again. They won’t reduce emissions per se, but it is a way of controlling them. E-fuels are also compatible with existing internal combustion engines, which means that current car owners won’t need to purchase a new vehicle that runs on them. It’s a win-win, right? Well, not quite.

What are the drawbacks?

One of the biggest drawbacks of the fuel is their cost. E-fuels are currently more expensive than traditional fuels, and it is not clear whether the cost will come down in the future. It may be that economies of scale will eventually kick in, but it would require a substantial amount of investment beforehand.

Another drawback of e-fuels is their energy intensity. The production requires a fair whack of energy, and it needs to be supplied from renewable sources to be viable. Otherwise it is nowhere near as clean as what we currently have.

Finally, e-fuels are not yet widely available. There are only a few production facilities in the world, and we don’t know whether there will be enough production capacity to meet the demand for e-fuels in the future, especially with the cultural shift towards EVs.

Who is producing e-fuels and where?

The Haru Oni e-fuel plant is a pilot plant for the production of e-fuels located in Punta Arenas, Chile. The plant was developed by Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF), a joint venture between Stuttgart’s own Porsche, Siemens Energy, Enel, and ExxonMobil. It uses turbines to produce the electricity for hydrogen production, which is then combined with CO2 captured from the atmosphere to create the fuel. It began production in 2022 and is expected to produce 130,000 litres of e-fuel per year, which unfortunately, is not enough.

The plant is a highly significant development in the production of e-fuels, though. It demonstrates the feasibility of producing the fuel using renewable energy and CO2 capture technology. The plant is also a major step towards Porsche’s goal of using it in its road and race cars.

Haru Oni is not without its challenges, mind. The plant is massively expensive to operate and the cost of e-fuels is still astronomically high. However, that cost will likely come down as the technology develops and production increases. As stated, this will only happen if other oil companies get on board.

Overall, e-fuels have the potential to be a major player in the future of transportation, not just for cars, but also for commercial transport as well. They clearly offer a way to reduce emissions (which is important no matter what) without sacrificing the performance and enjoyment of what we love. If the challenges can be overcome, it could be just what we need to keep ICE cars on the road.

However, VW’s big boss has stated that he doesn’t see the real benefits of these fuels and isn’t interested. Time will tell.