Electrofuels, also known as e-fuels or synthetic fuels, are a type of drop-in replacement fuel. They are manufactured using captured carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, together with

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...

obtained from sustainable electricity sources such as wind, solar and nuclear power. The process uses carbon dioxide in manufacturing and releases around the same amount of carbon dioxide into the air when the fuel is burned, for an overall low carbon footprint. Electrofuels are thus an option for reducing

greenhouse gas emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

from transport, particularly for long-distance freight, marine, and air transport. The primary targets are

butanol Butanol (also called butyl alcohol) is a four-carbon alcohol with a formula of C4 H9 O H, which occurs in five isomeric structures (four structural isomers), from a straight-chain primary alcohol to a branched-chain tertiary alcohol; all are a b ...

, and

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...

, but include other alcohols and carbon-containing gases such as

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The relative abundance of methane on Eart ...

and

butane Butane () or ''n''-butane is an alkane with the formula C4H10. Butane is a gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Butane is a highly flammable, colorless, easily liquefied gas that quickly vaporizes at room temperature. The name but ...

Research

A primary source of funding for research on liquid electrofuels for transportation was the Electrofuels Program of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (

ARPA-E ARPA-E, or Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy is a United States government agency tasked with promoting and funding research and development of advanced energy technologies. It is modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agenc ...

), headed by Eric Toone. ARPA-E, created in 2009 under

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

’s Secretary of Energy

Steven Chu Steven ChuDepartment of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-rel ...

’s (DOE) attempt to duplicate the effectiveness of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

. Examples of projects funded under this program include OPX Biotechnologies’ biodiesel effort led by Michael Lynch and Derek Lovley’s work on

microbial electrosynthesis Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is a form of microbial electrocatalysis in which electrons are supplied to living microorganisms via a cathode in an electrochemical cell by applying an electric current. The electrons are then used by the microorga ...

at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, which reportedly produced the first liquid electrofuel using CO₂ as the

feedstock A raw material, also known as a feedstock, unprocessed material, or primary commodity, is a basic material that is used to produce goods, finished goods, energy, or intermediate materials that are feedstock for future finished products. As feedst ...

. Descriptions of all ARPA-E Electrofuels Program research projects can be found at the ARPA-E Electrofuels Program website. The first Electrofuels Conference, sponsored by the

American Institute of Chemical Engineers The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) is a professional organization for chemical engineers. AIChE was actually established in 1908 to distinguish chemical engineers as a profession independent of chemists and mechanical engineer ...

was held in

Providence, RI Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

in November 2011. At that conference, Director Eric Toone stated that "Eighteen months into the program, we know it works. We need to know if we can make it matter." Several groups are beyond proof-of-principle, and are working to scale up cost-effectively. Electrofuels have the potential to be disruptive if carbon-neutral electrofuels are cheaper than

petroleum fuel Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

s, and if chemical feedstocks produced by electrosynthesis are cheaper than those refined from crude oil. Electrofuels also has significant potential in altering the renewable energy landscape, as electrofuels allows renewables from all sources to be stored conveniently as a liquid fuel. , prompted by the fracking boom, ARPA-E's focus has moved from electrical feedstocks to natural-gas based feedstocks, and thus away from electrofuels. Towards the end of 2020,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

announced its investment in electrofuels, including the Haru Oni project in Chile, creating synthetic

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

from wind power. In 2021, Audi announced that it was working on

e-diesel E-diesel is a synthetic diesel fuel created by Audi for use in automobiles. Currently, e-diesel is created by an Audi research facility in partnership with a company named Sunfire. The fuel is created from carbon dioxide, water, and electricity wit ...

and e-gasoline projects. By 2021, the European Federation for Transport and Environment advised the

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

sector was needing e-kerosene to be deployed as it could substantially reduce the climate impact of aviation. It was also observing electrofuel usage in cars emits two significant

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...

es beyond captured for the production:

(CH₄) and

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

(N₂O); local air pollution was still a concern and it was five times less efficient than direct electrification. According to the eFuel Alliance, the perspective of the lack of efficiency of Electrofuels is misleading as what is critical for global energy transition is not the degree of efficiency of electricity’s end usage, but rather how efficiently electricity can be produced from renewable energies, and then made usable.The FAQ of the eFuel Alliance (You have to go to this question for the source: How efficient is the use of eFuels compared to direct electricity?) https://www.efuel-alliance.eu/faq

References

Books and reports

Notes

External links

* {{cite journal , url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/06/130617-electrofuels-using-microbes-to-make-biofuel/ , title=Electrofuels: Charged Microbes May "Poop Out" a Gasoline Alternative , date=June 17, 2013 , accessdate=July 23, 2013 , journal=National Geographic , last=Lovett , first=Richard A. Alternative fuels Renewable fuels Aviation fuels

Research

See also

References

Books and reports

Notes

External links