16 May 2018 – At the winter conference of the UNITI Bundesverband mittelständischer Mineralölunternehmen e. V. at the beginning of March 2018, the current energy policy under the sign of the energy turnaround was discussed. The Chairman of UNITI e. V., Udo Weber, addressed the potential of e-fuels as the energy source of the future in his speech and called for a fuel and fuel revolution for Germany and Europe: “Within ten years, CO2-neutral liquid fuels and combustibles must be introduced to the market across the board. The new federal government must now create the framework conditions for these e-fuels”. According to UNITI, this includes support for research and market introduction. This includes short-term measures such as tendering procedures to secure investments and volume commitments along the lines of the wind power industry, as well as the medium-term conversion of the energy tax on mobility to environmentally relevant assessment bases.
TEC4FUELS Managing Director Klaus Lucka, who gave a keynote speech on the workshop at the winter conference, explained some important framework conditions and prerequisites for the successful market launch of e-fuels. “For example, e-fuels, like conventional fuels and combustibles, must be compatible with as many technologies for liquid energy sources as possible that are available on the market. It is also important that they can be mixed with fuels already on the market today, so that undesirable interactions can be ruled out. This applies to both oil heaters and vehicle engines,” emphasized Klaus Lucka. TEC4FUELS is working on these issues and developing new test procedures and carrying them out under realistic conditions on its own test benches. The research activities and technical services are aimed at ensuring the operational safety and long service life of both new and existing technologies when using new liquid fuels.
CO2-neutral liquid fuels are characterised by a number of advantages over the other alternatives currently under discussion in the energy revolution: E-fuels are easy to transport and store, affordable and can use the existing infrastructure without restrictions. In addition, they can already be mixed with conventional fuels and combustibles and are thus both bridge technology and target technology.
