New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Real possibilities for synthetic e-fuels
11/9/2024
8 min read
Feature
Synthetic or e-fuels will be one of the key enablers of the energy transition away from fossil fuels towards more sustainable alternatives. However, identifying cost-effective pathways from legacy fossil fuels into low-carbon alternatives is proving to be quite a challenge for the incumbent energy players. Nnamdi Anyadike reports.
The roll-out of low-carbon, synthetically-derived alternatives to fossil fuels, e-fuels, depends on the successful deployment of new technologies to a large extent. Unfortunately, many of these are still at a nascent stage, and expensive. A recent report from Wood Mackenzie emphasises the need for further development of green hydrogen and CO2 capture, for example. The result of this lag in development could mean that the e-fuels opportunity ‘won’t fully materialise until after 2030’, the market analyst suggests.
Although different conversion technologies are used to produce e-fuels, it is renewable electricity, particularly solar power, which offers the best hope of lowering costs and improving efficiencies. Solar power can already be used to produce a range of e-products, including e-ammonia, e-methanol, e-jet fuel, e-diesel, e-petrol and e-methane, via the production of green hydrogen.
Governments incentivise e-fuels
A raft of government policies across Europe and the US are expected to provide the necessary stick and carrot to incentivise the production of e-fuels.