OPENNESS TO SYNTHETIC FUELS
Europe’s automotive industry, which is already investing heavily in the move to electric vehicles, fears the social impact of a too-rapid transition.
“The overwhelming majority of car manufacturers have chosen electric cars,” said Frans Timmermans, the EU Commission Vice President in charge of the European Green Deal, at a press conference.
He affirmed the EU body’s willingness to be open-minded to other technologies – like synthetic fuels, which are also referred to as e-fuels.
“We are technology neutral. What we want are zero-emission cars,” he explained.
“At the moment, e-fuels do not seem a realistic solution, but if manufacturers can prove otherwise in the future, we will be open.”
The technology of synthetic fuels, currently under study, consists of producing fuel from CO2 from industrial activities using low-carbon electricity, in a circular economy approach.
Like the oil industry, the automotive sector has high hopes for these new fuels, which would extend the use of internal combustion engines now threatened by the emergence of completely electric vehicles.
But environmental organisations object to the use of this technology in cars, as it is considered both expensive and energy-consuming.
The synthetic-fuelled engines also emit as much nitrogen oxide (NOx) as their fossil fuel equivalents, they say.
Cars are the main mode of transport for Europeans and account for just under 15 percent of total CO2 emissions in the EU. It is also one of the main gases responsible for global warming.
In response to manufacturers’ concerns about insufficient consumer demand for 100 percent electric cars, the Commission has recommended a major expansion of charging stations.
“Along the main roads in Europe, there must be charging points every 60km,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last year.
Manufacturers regularly complain about the lack of such infrastructure, especially in southern and eastern European countries.
For all the latest world News Click Here
