Traffic light coalition wants to issue sales permit for e-fuels

The coalition government has agreed to allow e-fuels to be sold at filling stations in Germany. This means that the phasing out of internal combustion engines, which many environmentalists have been calling for, is now a long way off.

FDP sees future in e-fuels

So-called e-fuels are synthetic fuels that are supposed to have a significantly lower impact on the atmosphere than conventional gasoline or diesel. Thus, at least from the perspective of the FDP, they represent an opportunity to be able to continue to rely on the classic combustion engine in the future. However, a ban on the sale of synthetic fuels at German filling stations has so far stood in the way of further development in this area. Now the FDP has obviously been able to push through its will within the traffic light coalition and has fought for a sales permit for e-fuels in this country as well. From the point of view of the liberals, this is intended to create an opportunity to also operate classic internal combustion vehicles in a climate-neutral manner.

Combustion engines are to become climate-neutral

While automakers around the world are focusing on electromobility, Germany is taking a rather exotic step with the decision. The FDP is clearly presenting itself to the outside world as the big winner of long debates. It speaks of a “breakthrough for climate-neutral mobility and openness to technology in Germany.” The Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) is also pleased. In the association’s view, there is no other way to achieve the ambitious climate targets. But what do these actually look like in the area of mobility? The EU has stipulated that the fleets of car manufacturers may not emit any CO² at all from 2035. In other words, internal combustion engines fueled by classic fossil fuels based on petroleum would thus be passé.

This is supposed to change with the sales permit. But is it really realistic that customers will prefer to use synthetic fuels instead of premium and diesel? E-fuels are currently still quite expensive. In the view of Volker Wissing (FDP), the German Minister of Transport, this is mainly due to the low demand that currently prevails in this area. With further development in the area of production and more drivers relying on e-fuels, this should change quickly, he said. The sales permit at German filling stations should now be a first step toward increasing demand. With the help of the synthetic fuel, it could then be possible to circumvent the theoretical combustion engine phase-out from 2035 and also have combustion engines drive in a climate-neutral manner.

E-fuels are power guzzlers

Unsurprisingly, the Greens do not see e-fuels as the fuel of the future at all. Quite the contrary. On the contrary, they emphasize that they would make vehicles much more inefficient to run than electric cars. To get an idea of this, one has to consider how e-fuels are produced. The basis of synthetic fuels is water and carbon. However, in order to produce the desired fuel, a lot of electricity is needed. It would probably make more sense to put the work into perfecting electric cars or hydrogen cars. For example, Chinese battery manufacturer Hina recently unveiled an electric car that relies on a novel sodium-ion battery. This eradicates the disadvantages that are currently still being voiced by many e-car critics on the subject of lithium. We can only hope that German automakers will not rest on their hopes of continuing to sell combustion engines en masse thanks to e-fuels.