Ihe process aimed at banning the sale within the European Union (EU) of new vehicles equipped with a thermal engine from 2035 was finally acted on Tuesday, March 28. The psychodrama unleashed by Germany, which threatened not to approve the central measure of the climate plan of the Twenty-Seven if the new regulations did not leave the door open to the use of synthetic fuels, was finally resolved at the end of an inglorious compromise.
By defending a questionable position on the environmental and economic fronts, Berlin took the risk of derailing a law already passed by the Parliament and the European Council, with the sole aim of easing tensions within the ruling coalition and to satisfy interests that are braced on a technology that has little chance of establishing itself as a future solution for the automobile. Germany has nevertheless obtained an addendum to European law which will have to be validated by the fall of 2024.
The debate is not about the choice to switch the sector to the electric car. This has been settled, and all the manufacturers, including the German ones, have set themselves up to generalize this technology. Some top-of-the-range brands, such as BMW or Porsche, are nevertheless calling for the possibility of continuing to develop thermal engines capable of operating using e-fuels, produced without petroleum but from CO2 and low-carbon electricity.
Problematic mode of production
The complexity of the chemical synthesis and refining process makes these fuels extremely expensive. This technology will only be profitable for luxury models intended for a few wealthy buyers. From an environmental point of view, although these e-fuels do not emit greenhouse gases, they are nevertheless the source of nitrogen oxide emissions. This toxic chemical compound was already at the heart of the “dieselgate” scandal.
The mode of production of these e-fuels is problematic. Their manufacture requires a huge amount of electricity making the energy balance calamitous. In addition, the energy used must be decarbonized. However, by 2050, it is estimated that our needs must be multiplied by seven to respect the decarbonization trajectory that the EU has set itself. Every megawatt will be valuable. From this point of view, burning synthetic fuels in the engines of ultra-powerful cars is certainly not the best use that can be made of this “green” energy.
If the automobile can use electric batteries, this will not be the case for other sectors such as the steel industry, aviation or maritime transport, which will have no choice but to turn to e-fuels.
By pledging to pave the way for synthetic fuels intended for automobiles to satisfy German demands, Brussels is entering a dead end. This choice is likely to turn, by the admission even of the leaders of Volkswagen, in “untimely distraction” for the manufacturers, who must concentrate on the improvement of the technology of the electric batteries.
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On the other hand, the EU should tackle the issue of regulating access to carbon-free energy. In view of the quantities that will be needed in the decades to come, it is urgent to direct the uses, in order to optimize a resource that must be considered as a common good and no longer as an inexhaustible potential subject to the law of the highest bidder for satisfying the desires of the few at the expense of the needs of the many.