It’s election season again – and the ÖVP has presented its election program for the EU elections from June 6th to 9th, 2024 under the leadership of top candidate Reinhold Lopatka. A recurring point on the 57 pages of the program in various chapters: The ÖVP wants to campaign at the EU level against the end of the combustion engine, which has actually been decided long ago, and not only that: they want to make an active commitment to “making Europe’s car industry the world market leader in combustion engines”.
We remember: From 2035, cars with internal combustion engines will be banned in the EU, but a back door has been left open for the controversial e-fuels anyway. Cars should continue to be sold as long as they are filled with synthetic fuels. It remains to be seen how it will be controlled whether only e-fuels are used or not petrol or diesel, which will still be available after 2035.
The ÖVP wants, as has been its position so far, to advocate for so-called technological openness at the EU level. This means that several types of drive should continue to be offered and developed side by side – i.e. electric motors, hydrogen drives and also conventional combustion engines. This is also referred to as a “green combustion engine”. However, studies have shown several times that an electric vehicle causes around 50 percent fewer CO2 emissions than a combustion engine using synthetic fuels. The production of e-fuels (they are produced from hydrogen and CO2 using a lot of electricity) is still expensive and hardly widespread.
Against the current: Everything about the controversial e-fuels
Green Deal should be renegotiated
From the ÖVP’s point of view, the end of combustion engines is disadvantageous for the location, after all, the German car industry and the Austrian supplier industry are heavily dependent on the technology (even if the electric motor is on the rise). That’s why Lopatka and Co are calling for “the renegotiation of all regulations that interfere too much with competitiveness and innovation. “These include, for example, the supply chain law or areas of the European Green Deal, such as the ban on combustion engines for new registrations from 2035,” says the election manifesto.
There are also ideas about where the CO2 for synthetic fuels could come from. Namely from the use of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies “to reduce the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere by cutting off and storing carbon dioxide and thus making an important contribution to more environmental and “To provide climate protection,” it says. CCS and CCU are also controversial because they require large industrial systems and are also expensive.
Carbon Capture: Captured CO2 will be used primarily in the oil industry until 2044