Porsche believes in synthetic fuels
On the occasion of the inauguration event of the new Porsche Experience Center born on the shores of Lake Iseo, the CEO of Porsche, Oliver Blume, spoke again about a topic of great interest for the German company: synthetic fuels, the so-called e-Fuels.As we all know by now, within a few years the manufacturers will be forced to abandon the production of endothermic engines in favor of electric engines, within a broader plan programmed by the Union European to achieve the ambitious goal of "carbon neutrality". To achieve this goal by 2030, Porsche has decided to focus on the development of synthetic fuels, which have the advantage of burning much cleaner, and therefore of not emitting polluting gases following combustion.
According to Blume, synthetic fuels could be a valid alternative to electric mobility, both to achieve the objectives set by the EU by 2030, and to allow all those who own an endothermic Porsche to continue using it without too much difficulty. To date, synthetic fuel is very expensive, around 10 dollars per liter, but in the coming years the price is inevitably destined to drop - also thanks to the boost coming from the aeronautical sector, which will depend exclusively on this type of fuel - up to even 2 dollars. per liter.
Porsche, Enel and Siemens, together with other oil companies, are building a clean fuel production plant in Chile; as early as 2022, the plant will be able to produce green hydrogen thanks to the 3.4 MW wind plant present, while the production of decarbonised gasoline should reach 550 million liters per year by 2026.
“E-Fuels will reduce fossil CO2 emissions in combustion engines by up to 90%. As early as 2022, we will use the fuel we produce in Chile to power the cars of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. "
Porsche is not the only one looking for alternatives to electric: Toyota, for example, is strongly committed to the development of hydrogen-powered engines, while Bosch - despite being one of the leaders in the production of electric motors - is in turn engaging in the development of alternative fuels, and is working with institutions so that they can spread like electric mobility.
Porsche’s synthetic fuel manufacturing facility breaks ground in Chile
© Provided by EvoPorsche’s push towards sustainability has taken another big step forwards with the announcement its e-fuel production facility in Chilean Patagonia has now broken ground. The challenge of decarbonisation for the automotive industry is a large and complicated one, but Porsche firmly believes that e-fuels will be part of the solution, in addition to electrification and hydrogen technologies.
The project moves Porsche one step closer to the industrial scale required for carbon-neutral fuels to become a viable part of its decarbonisation plans. In short, Porsche believes that environmentally responsible fuels, that is ones that capture some proportion of the emissions related to burning them in their production process, can extend the life of combustion engines vehicles.
© Provided by Evo PatagoniaVideo: How Porsche E-fuel aims to make gas engine cars as clean as electric ones (Roadshow)
How Porsche E-fuel aims to make gas engine cars as clean as electric ones
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In order to do this, it has worked with German tech giant Siemens in the development of the project, and forecasts exponential growth in capacity over the next five years, ending up with as much as 550 million litres in annual production by 2026.
> Synthetic fuels explained
The fuel itself will be utilised initially for internal means in the running of Porsche’s combustion-powered racing and heritage cars from 2022, but the brand is planning to sell its environmentally-friendly fuels to consumers in the longer term. This will give Porsche owners across the globe access to fuels for their combustion-engined models regardless of how the supply of traditional petrol and diesel changes as its use in private vehicles is curtailed post-2030.
Investment into e-fuel or synthetic fuel technology is something that’s been explored by many manufacturers to some degree, but this option has taken a distant back seat to electrification in the range of measures being explored to tackle the climate crisis. While difficult to communicate to the general public, Porsche believes the technology will play an important role moving forward, explaining the desire to invest so much into this project. If it leads to Porsche gaining eventual control over a resource that traditional car manufacturers have never needed to really consider before, it may prove to be money well spent.