Less than a year ago, Porsche inaugurated its pilot eFuel plant, named Haru Oni, in Punta Arenas, Chile. This facility enables the production of synthetic fuel with a “near” CO2-neutral impact when used in petrol engines. The launch of this plant was commemorated by fueling a Porsche 911 ceremonially.
This synthetic fuel is created using a combination of water, carbon dioxide, and wind power. Chile was selected as the location for the plant due to its consistently windy climate, which allows the plant’s wind turbine to operate at maximum capacity for approximately 270 days each year. This is a significant improvement compared to just 80 days if Porsche had established the plant in Germany.
After Germany questioned the EU’s support for the regulations, the bloc’s member states postponed a vote scheduled for next week on the law that will ban the sale of new CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035.
However, Audi, they have planned to totally cease production of ICE cars by the end of 2026 but this might see some delays due to the ongoing discussion.
When a huge asteroid smashed into our planet millions of years ago, it caused such great climate change that life on earth almost ended, particularly the dinosaurs. Climate change is also the reason why there is this urgency to switch to electric power for cars and stop using internal combustion (IC) engines which generate carbon dioxide (CO2), the culprit in global warming.
Unlike the death of the dinosaurs, the IC engines cannot just ‘die’ so fast, much as environmentalists would like them to. There are still more than 1.3 billion vehicles with IC engines on the planet, providing mobility to millions who won’t or can’t easily switch to electric vehicles (EVs). And all these vehicles require fuel to run… coincidentally derived from those dinosaurs which died. The combustion process that generates power for an engine also sends out CO2, so the solution has been to stop that process which should reduce the gas levels.
While the European carmakers are thinking of phasing out combustion engines, the Japanese carmakers are still trying to keep them in use for a while longer, not just in hybrid powertrains but also on their own. In order to meet increasingly stringent emission standards – one reason why industry is going the EV route – the carmakers are exploring and testing the use of environment-friendly fuels.
Toyota is testing an engine running on hydrogen (as a fuel, not for a fuel cell) while Mazda has been running a 100% biodiesel made from used cooking oil and microalgae fats. Subaru is the third member of the same group of companies exploring new fuels that can be classified as carbon-neutral.
All three companies have formed an alliance for such R&D work and are running their prototypes in the current ENEOS Super Taikyu Series. Toyota’s prototype is adapted from a Corolla hatchback, while Mazda is using a Demio model. Subaru has chosen its BRZ sportscar for the purpose.
The use of the Super Taikyu series is suitable for development work as it subjects the prototype engines to extreme conditions within a short period. Feedback on engine performance will help the engineers identify issues and work on solutions so that fuel options can be expanded for combustion engines which are also acceptable for a carbon-neutral society.
For developing of the prototype, Subaru has over 100 engineers involved in Team SDA Engineering. The engineers made minimal modification to the BRZ to retain mass production vehicle engineering which is reliable. However, racing regulations require safety equipment and the roll cage is an important item to be installed. The structure of the roll-cage was specially designed so that there would be space for EyeSight stereo camera which is used for the active safety systems.
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The carbon-neutral fuel is a synthetic fuel formulated by synthesizing sources such as carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen and components derived from non-edible biomasses so as to match with Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) for petrol It is seen as one of the measures for achieving carbon neutrality as the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during combustion is regarded as neutral.
Mazda’s Demio prototype (above) runs on biodiesel made from used cooking oil and microalgae fats, while Toyota’s prototype (below) has an engine running on hydrogen.
When all materials are derived from renewable energy and CO2 emitted during production and transportation process is zero, the fuel can be considered a truly carbon-neutral fuel. However, since there still is CO2 emission during production and the transportation process, the fuel used at this time is not strictly carbon-neutral. Subaru is aiming to make it 100% carbon neutral in the future.
The livery of the race car features the motif of blue and green flame which respectively symbolize the passion of Subaru engineers and environmental friendliness of carbon-neutral fuel.
The new 911 GT3 Cup (992) makes its racing debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Monaco Grand Prix this weekend and it will be the first time the car’s 4-litre naturally aspirated engine will run on Esso Renewable Racing Fuel. Referred to as ‘eFuel’, this is a blend of fuels mostly made of lower carbon, renewable, bio-based components.
The first racetrack test of the Esso Renewable Racing Fuels was held 2 months ago at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. As in the entire 2021 season, the first version of Esso Renewable Racing Fuels will be used there. This is mainly based on an advanced biofuel whose raw materials consist of organic waste. On this basis, an ExxonMobil team of scientists and engineers composed a racing fuel that, in initial tests, has shown the potential for significant reductions in CO2 emissions.
Second version to be used next year In the course of the 2022 season, the two companies plan to use the second version of the Esso Renewable Racing Fuels which, for the most part consists of eFuels. These eFuels are the focus of the collaboration between ExxonMobil and Porsche. eFuels are synthetic fuels that are generated using renewable energy from hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the air.
With the eFuel-based Esso Renewable Racing Fuel, it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 85% if it complies with the current fuel standard according to the necessary blending. The eFuel comes from the Haru Oni pilot plant in Chile that generates hydrogen, which is then combined with captured carbon dioxide drawn from the atmosphere to produce methanol. ExxonMobil is providing a license and support for the proprietary technology to convert the methanol which will result in a lower-carbon fuel.
Future consumer adoption potential In the pilot phase, over 130,000 litres of eFuels will be produced in 2022. Porsche and ExxonMobil are working together to gain valuable experiences to find pathways toward potential future consumer adoption. The switch to so-called eFuel is planned over the course of the 2022 season. As the main buyer of this fuel, Porsche will use the eFuels from Chile in the Porsche Experience Centres in addition to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in the 2022 season.
“Purely electrically powered vehicles have the highest priority for us,” emphasized Michael Steiner, member of the Board of Management for Research and Development at Porsche. “eFuels complement our drive strategy perfectly. They offer our customers the option of driving cars with combustion engines and plug-in hybrids that are almost CO2-neutral. By working with ExxonMobil, we can test the eFuels under demanding conditions on the racetrack. We are thus taking another step on the way to a marketable and CO2-reduced eFuel that can replace conventional fuels.”
