ATclose the “change of era”, the Zeitenwende, mentioned on February 27, 2022 by Chancellor Olaf Sholz during its policy statement to adapt to the new energy, military and economic deal, Germany has now switched to a change of foot. Less strategic, but more destabilizing for its European partners. The most spectacular turnaround took place at the beginning of March when it came to deciding on the European legislative proposal activating the end of heat engines in 2035.
German Transport Minister Volker Wissing announced that he would not vote on the text as it stands, threatening to throw out two years of consultations and an essential axis of the climate agenda of the European Union (EU) , formalized in an agreement which only awaits the signature of the Member States. Added to Italian, Polish and Bulgarian reluctance, the German rebuff would deprive the Twenty-Seven of a qualified majority.
The affair is the direct consequence of tensions within the German coalition in power, between Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, and poses serious problems for European governance. In Angela Merkel’s time, Germany was slow to decide, but reliable once the decision was made. From now on, the European locomotive seems to be steered according to the balance of power of internal politics, themselves dependent on lobbies.
The postponement of Berlin’s signature on the end of the combustion engine was a little quickly interpreted as a last-minute regret by Europe’s leading car producer to switch to all-electric. Some were thus delighted that we were finally opening our eyes to the “mirage” of the electric vehicle which would combine all the evils: polluting batteries, limited raw material resources, insufficient network of terminals, supply of vehicles beyond the reach of the most modest…
However, the mirage is not what we believe. The illusions are rather on the side of the German demands, which are, not to reconsider the choice of electric (the 180 billion euros of investments that Volkswagen has just announced attests to this), but to leave the possibility to manufacturers to use synthetic fuels.
Complex and energy-intensive manufacturing process
On paper, these “e-fuels” are adorned with all the virtues. They are produced without petroleum, but from CO2 and low-carbon electricity. Through a chemical process of electrolysis, the water is split into oxygen and green hydrogen. This is then combined with carbon dioxide to be transformed into e-fuel via a complex process of chemical synthesis and refining.
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