The bullet is in the church: After 2035 no new cars with a combustion engine will be sold. But Germany was unwilling and is now getting its way. The European Union excludes e-fuel cars.
The EU Commission wants to make an exception for cars that run only on synthetic fuels, and therefore not on petrol or diesel. This is clear from a The regulatory proposal was presented to Reuters news agency. The proposal has been submitted to the Ministry of Transportation.
The condition should be that the new class of vehicles can technically only run on synthetic fuels that are created using electricity. Depending on the design, these cars should be able to recognize when to fill up with conventional petrol or diesel and then automatically shut it off.
Electronic fuel is expensive and inefficient
The main disadvantage of this synthetic fuel is that it is now produced only in drops and slicks. And at a liter price of around four euros a liter, they are also seen as expensive and inefficient. With the same energy needed to make e-fuel that can drive a car for 100 km, a battery electric car can travel about 700 km.
The EU therefore prefers to use them primarily for freight or air traffic that cannot be powered directly by electricity. But according to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIC) presented today, the volume of production expected in 2035 is not enough to meet the demand in these regions alone. Indeed, there would then be nothing left for automobile use, even if all production facilities were used to their fullest extent.
A lot of green energy is needed to produce e-fuel
Industrial fuels are based on hydrogen (H2). To manufacture it, water (H2O) is broken down into oxygen (O) and hydrogen by electrolysis. Then carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is added, and later combusted again. This complex production process requires a lot of electricity, which must come from a renewable energy source such as wind or solar energy, otherwise it is not green.
Although the generally informed news agency Reuters says it has seen the proposal, there is no absolute certainty yet. German Transport Minister Volker Wessing held talks with the European Commission yesterday and could not say when an agreement would be reached on implementing the proposal.
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