Electrofuels are neither an efficient or a cost-effective solution to decarbonise road transport, a new independent study has found.
Electrofuels, also known as e-fuels or power to liquid, are electricity-based liquid fuels which can be used in internal combustion engines.
The study, conducted by consultancy Cerulogy for NGO Transport & Environment, concludes that e-fuels could supply a limited amount of aviation’s growing energy needs but only if the electricity comes from new renewable sources with strict sustainability criteria.
T&E said the EU must ensure only e-fuels produced from renewables, such as wind and solar, can be eligible under the advanced fuels target and that it should adopt measures to avoid double counting of renewable electricity under the Renewable Energy Directive.
But to power Europe’s road transport fleet with liquid e-fuels, the EU would have to generate one and a half times more than its current total electricity production, and all of this electricity would have to be renewable.
The study finds that e-fuel generation cannot realistically be scaled up to the levels needed to fuel the European, let alone, global vehicle fleet.
