Sustainability

There is no sustainability in a world without CO₂ neutrality.

wind energy for e-fuels

CO₂ neutrality is about keeping the carbon dioxide in circulation

e-fuels release car­bon diox­ide dur­ing the com­bus­tion pro­cess. But only as much is emit­ted as was pre­vi­ously locked in dur­ing the pro­duc­tion pro­cess. This makes e-fuels CO₂ neut­ral.

The car­bon diox­ide required for the pro­duc­tion of e-fuels is primar­ily obtained from indus­trial sources. This is done by fil­ter­ing emis­sions from power sta­tions, waste incin­er­ation plants, steel/alu­minum pro­duc­tion plants, cement pro­duc­tion etc. Nat­ural pro­cesses, such as in sewage treat­ment plants and bio­gas plants, also serve as CO₂ sources.

At a later stage, the fil­ter­ing of CO₂ from the ambi­ent air may also be con­sidered. These pro­cesses are still too cost-intens­ive for indus­trial applic­ation today.

solar energy for e-fuels

The energy efficiency factor

Bat­tery elec­tric and hydro­gen-powered vehicles have a higher energy effi­ciency than e-fuels. How­ever, the advant­ages of e-fuels lie in their trans­port and stor­age cap­ab­il­ity and in their ver­sat­ile and safe applic­ation pos­sib­il­it­ies.

Since, unlike fossil fuels, renew­able energy sources are avail­able in unlim­ited sup­ply, the issue of energy effi­ciency can be dis­reg­arded. Pro­duc­tion costs per energy unit and the CO₂ sav­ings over the entire pro­duc­tion and con­sump­tion pro­cess are more rel­ev­ant in a dir­ect com­par­ison.

In addi­tion, only e-fuels offer the oppor­tun­ity to decar­bon­ize exist­ing applic­ations such as exist­ing fleets or chem­ical industry plants, which in turn has an impact on the eco-bal­ance, as no new infra­struc­ture needs to be built.

Energy from renew­able sources such as wind, water and sun is a pre­requis­ite for the pos­it­ive eco-bal­ance of e-fuels.