At the second eKKon, the international conference on the topic of eFuels, renowned experts from home and abroad discussed a climate-neutral future for the global energy system. eFuels, i.e. synthetic fuels, can make a significant contribution to this.
The eKKon in Vienna discussed how a climate-neutral energy system can work in practice. Already on the opening day there was a clear commitment to openness to technology, scientific research, investment-friendly framework conditions and global energy partnerships.
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner said in his opening speech: “Climate protection is one of the central tasks of our generation. Our goals are ambitious: 100% renewable electricity in and from Austria by 2030 and climate neutrality in Austria by 2040 – ten years ahead of the EU. To achieve these climate goals, we need investment, innovation and collaboration. In any case, we must not concentrate on a few technologies, but must remain open to technology. We therefore also need innovative solutions and all environmentally friendly technologies for mobility. E-fuels will also play an important role here.”
The range of possible applications for eFuels extends from aircraft to snow groomers, from construction machinery to emergency generators, from agriculture to vintage cars, from military vehicles to non-electrified railways. What will be crucial is whether the automotive sector quickly increases eFuels.
For openness to technology
Jürgen Roth, CEO of the eFuel Alliance and organizer of eKKon, is committed to comprehensive technology neutrality: We have to move away from bans that weaken Europe. Emissions are rising worldwide, only in Europe are they falling. The reasons for this are the high energy prices, but also that production is increasingly being relocated abroad. But CO2 has no passport, so we have to think about the climate change globally. If we see that China and Japan, but also other countries, have already moved away from an electric-only strategy, we should not stick to it. We must use all technologies to achieve global climate change. Politics should limit itself to setting the goals and then give the economy the chance to find the best possible solution.
There were statements from several quarters about the future price development of eFuels. Dorothea Nold, Senior Market Officer at eFuel pioneer HIF Highly Innovative Fuels in Berlin, reported that manufacturing costs will fall significantly once production takes place on an industrial scale. HIF is launching several eFuels projects in different regions of the world and is already negotiating with large international buyers. Philipp Furler, founder and CEO of Synhelion AG, a Zurich-based technology company that produces fuels based on solar heat, also confirms the price forecast.