Interview with experts

Are e-fuels the engine of the green mobility transition?

E-fuels can be refueled with the existing infrastructure of fossil fuels.

(Bild: APA/dpa-Zentralbild/UNBEKANNT)

How can we achieve the mobility transition? It's an explosive question, and the buzzword e-fuels comes up again and again. Jürgen Roth and Stephan Schwarzer from the E-Fuel Alliance Austria talk about the advantages and disadvantages of alternative fuels - and potential opportunities for Styrian companies. 

"Krone": Simply explained: What are e-fuels anyway?
Jürgen Roth and Stephan Schwarzer: For e-fuels, hydrogen is produced from 100 percent green electricity using an electrolysis process. This hydrogen is liquefied using a process that involves the addition of CO₂. This liquid product is then a synthetic, CO₂-neutral fuel. This is how fuels for cars, airplanes and so on are created. So there is not just one e-fuel, but many different ones.

The original plan was to phase out combustion engines in the EU from 2035, but now there will probably be an exemption for e-fuels. An important move from your point of view?
Jürgen Roth: Our view is as follows: logically, an electric car that fills up with coal-fired electricity every day cannot be CO₂-neutral. Now, in the future, we want to take into account what kind of electricity an electric car uses, and we will find that a combustion engine that runs on e-fuels is even cleaner than an electric motor. If you take this approach, it makes sense to allow cars that run on synthetic fuel in addition to electric cars in the future.

Jürgen Roth is President of the E-Fuel Alliance Austria.

(Bild: Kurt Keinrath)

What opportunities does climate-neutral mobility offer Styrian companies?
Jürgen Roth: Styria is a disproportionately large automotive supplier country in Austria. This means that tens of thousands of employees are also dependent on the combustion engine. When it comes to electric motors, the proportion of suppliers from Styria is low. We are of the opinion that two horses would pull the climate carriage out of the mud faster than one. E-fuels are not intended to replace electric cars, but rather combustion engines. Together with AVL, we are currently building the first demonstration plant for e-fuels in Austria. We have already invested tens of millions in this project, which should be completed within a year.

Stephan Schwarzer is Managing Director of the E-Fuel Alliance Austria.

(Bild: FotoWeinwurm)

How much will a liter of e-fuel cost when you go into production?
Jürgen Roth: In the simulation, we are still looking at prices of between two and three euros. However, we assume that if we build large plants to generate electricity in countries with many hours of sunshine, a price per liter below one euro is possible. The ideal is even lower. We should therefore be competitive with highly taxed fossil fuels.

E-fuels are anything but uncontroversial. If you compare them to e-cars, for example, there is talk of a poorer energy balance due to losses during production. How do you counter this criticism?
Stephan Schwarzer: It's a mistake to only look at the engine. The problem with electric cars is that losses occur during the transportation of the electricity. We want to generate electricity in the Sahara or Patagonia, where the sun shines for free, collect it and convert it directly into a storable form - as e-fuels. In our project with AVL, we have developed a new form of technology called "high-temperature electrolysis", which is significantly more efficient than previous processes. So I assume that efficiency can still make huge strides. In addition, the vehicle components do not need to be replaced - e-fuels can be filled directly into the combustion engine. The existing infrastructure can also continue to be used - from the transport ships to the filling stations.