E-fuels (electric fuels) are synthetic fuels that are produced from water and CO2 using electricity. Although the combustion of these e-fuels produces just as much environmentally harmful exhaust gases as normal fuels, the necessary CO2 is taken from the atmosphere or biomass, so that e-fuels can be described as climate-neutral. However, it should not be overlooked that the production and use of e-fuels involves loss-intensive conversion stages: The energy balance of e-fuels is therefore considered worse compared to other types of propulsion.
Nevertheless, E-Fuels are considered indispensable in the areas of long-distance air traffic, shipping, production of basic materials for the (chemical) industry, crude steel production from iron ore, production of glass, ceramics, cement, long-distance heavy-duty traffic on roads as well as heat supply for buildings.
Today, a large part of companies planning to produce e-fuels focuses on fuels for aviation. An exception is the "Haru Oni" plant in Chile (Porsche & Siemens), which will primarily produce methanol and additionally produce about 55,000 liters of e-fuels (2022) for automotive transport. This quantity is to be increased in the future.
