Agreement reached between the European Union and Germany on the future use of efuels in cars. This was announced in a tweet by the vice president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans. “We will now work to get the CO2 rules adopted for the passenger car regulation as soon as possible and the Commission will swiftly follow up on the legal measures needed to implement recital 11,” he explained, referring to the paragraph providing for a derogation for synthetic fuels from the stop to the sale of internal combustion engine cars from 2035.
There is the Germany-EU agreement: yes to synthetic fuels for cars and vans. Here’s what changes and why Italy is displaced
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But what is it about and why are they considered revolutionaries?
“Vehicles equipped with a combustion engine can be registered after 2035 if they only use CO2-neutral fuels,” German Transport Minister Volker Wissing said. And this is where e-fuels come into play, fuels that are gasolines with the same characteristics as traditional ones, but with the difference that they are produced in a sustainable way, that is through electricity or with renewable energy. What does all this mean? The answer is simple: the production process becomes less polluting and future harmful fuel emissions are equal to the amount taken from the atmosphere to produce the fuel, making it overall CO2 neutral. In addition to focusing on fully electric vehicles, some car manufacturers are betting on e-fuels also because this would make it possible to prolong the longevity of the vehicles on the road today.
How they are produced
Electrofuel, better known by its abbreviation e-fuel, is a synthetic fuel, liquid or gaseous, produced through a process of electrolysis of water to break it down into its basic elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and synthesis of CO2 captured in the air using the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis procedure.
What does Italy ask for?
The agreement that was finalized between the European Commission and Germany for an exemption to e-fuels from the stop to heat engines from 2035 is considered disadvantageous for Italy, which instead focuses on biofuels. The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, brought the matter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels. Italy has so far clarified that without a derogation for biofuels it will maintain its vote against the ban on internal combustion engines from 2035.