Energy | Synthetic fuels are making progress – Finland will also soon be able to make gasoline and diesel with green electricity

Energy industry actors are now initiating historic change. Its goal is to overthrow the century-old rule of petroleum.

Work is done around the world in hundreds of development projects. The German car manufacturer Porsche already has a pilot plant in Chile, where synthetic fuel has already been tested.

In Finland, many types of synthetic or artificial fuel production plants are planned. Technology Research Center VTT’s test equipment is at Bioruukki in Espoo. An oil company St1, on the other hand, plans the production of synthetic methanola in Lappeenranta.

Synthetic fuel developers remind us that combustion engines will remain alongside electric engines.

Trucks, ships and airplanes can only be partially electrified. A large number of passenger cars run on gasoline and diesel for decades to come. New and preferably carbon-neutral fuels are therefore needed.

There is already a lot of research and experimentation, but the goals are also big. The capacities of the new plants now reach hundreds of tons, which is small compared to the production volumes of crude oil.

The world produces more than four billion tons of crude oil per year.

About a thousand refineries refine crude oil into diesel oil over a billion tons a year and gasoline around a billion tons, the international energy organization IEA says in his report.

Building an oil-based economy to a significant size took tens of years. The ecosystem of synthetic fuels is just being created.

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The carbon balance of new synthetic fuels should be balanced.

Synthetic the concept of fuel has changed with development. Now it can already mean substances produced with green energy, which are basically carbon neutral.

It is good to always check what substance is being talked about. Synthetic fuel in the old sense, can also mean fuel made from fossil coal, which is anything but carbon neutral.

Most synthetic fuels, such as synthetic gasoline, diesel oil or jet fuel, contain carbon in addition to hydrogen.

The carbon balance of new synthetic fuels should be balanced. They would no longer produce new carbon into the atmosphere, even if they use carbon.

The justification is that the carbon dioxide produced when the fuel is burned basically circulates back into the raw material of the synthetic fuel.

“From the hardware we mainly get so-called paraffinic hydrocarbons of different lengths, which can be further refined into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel,” describes VTT’s research professor Juha Lehtonen Espoo’s test equipment.

Paraffinic hydrocarbons are long and multi-branched chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. They are the compounds from which oil chemists build fuels. For example, gasoline or diesel oil is not a single substance or compound, but a mixture of hundreds of hydrocarbons.

Synthetic fuel equipment may look different in different projects. The goal is still the same, to produce synthetic fuels and specifically with green electricity.

The Espoo facility firstly makes hydrogen electrically, by breaking down water with high-temperature electrolysis. The first Finnish-made high-temperature electrolysis device in its size class is supplied by the Finnish companies Convion and Elcogen.

Both are developing so-called solid oxide cells, which can be used bidirectionally, both for separating hydrogen from water and burning it back into water. Solid cell materials work at high temperatures and have good efficiency.

The carbon for the fuel hydrocarbon is obtained from the carbon dioxide of the flue gases of the biorukki steam boiler. The technologies of two Finnish companies, Kleener Power Solutions and Carbonreuse Finland, are being tested in the separation of carbon dioxide.

The Technology Research Center supplies equipment that will eventually combine hydrogen and carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons. At the end of the chain, Neste refines intermediate products into fuels that are tested in vehicles.

“Our purpose is to test the diesel produced in the project at least in an AGCO Power engine in an off-road vehicle,” says Lehtonen.

On the other halfway across the globe in Chile, Siemens Energy and Porsche with their partners have already been able to try synthetic fuel in his own project.

In December, two members of the management team refueled the 911 model car with fresh fuel. The car’s engine worked well.

In Chile, the starting materials are also water and carbon dioxide. The plant first produces methanol from hydrogen in water and carbon dioxide in air. Methanol is further refined into gasoline. The fuel made is similar to gasoline obtained from petroleum.

Last year, a synthetic fuel production plant started up in Anyang, central China. It changes carbon dioxide emissions and hydrogen into methanol with the help of special catalysts. Production is 110,000 tons of methanol per year. The facility’s technology was supplied by the Icelandic company CRI International.

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Maybe we will soon see wind sheiks alongside oil sheiks.

The new ones the carbon neutrality of fuels is therefore achieved by producing electricity with clean energy, such as wind.

At the location of the plant in Chile, the wind blows 270 days a year. Chileans see wind as a valuable resource.

Maybe we will soon see wind sheiks alongside oil sheiks. According to Siemens two wind turbines in Chile produce the same amount of electricity as six turbines in Germany.

The Finns are also mediating Tuulisheik’s reference. According to the wind power association, there are good wind conditions in Finland. Thirty wind farms are under construction and more are planned. It is a good sign for domestic synthetic fuel developers.

Clean electricity for the synthesis of electric fuels can of course also be obtained from other sources, such as solar power plants.

acquaintances in addition to car fuels, there are other options. Hydrogen and methanol can be burned as such.

An oil company St1 plans to produce hydrogen from water with wind electricity in Lappeenranta. Carbon dioxide to make methane is obtained from the emissions of the Finnsement factory.

Synthetic methane can also be refined from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Synthetic methane is chemically the same compound as fossil natural gas.

Along with diesel and gasoline, methane is an attractive fuel in cars, especially in heavy traffic.

Methane produces Q Power P2X Solutions -the plant delivered to the company in Harjavalla.

The lifeblood of the production are microbes, which Luonnonvarakeskus professor Luke Erkki Aura once found in a Finnish swamp. Over millions of years, they have learned to combine hydrogen and carbon dioxide into methane.

Many others also believe in methane. Development company Ren-Gas plans synthetic hydrogen and methane production facilities in Tampere, Lahti, Mikkeli, Kotka and Pori.

Likewise, Westenergy is planning production facilities for the Vaasa region and Vantaa energia for Långmosseberget, near the intersection of Kehä kolmonen and Porvoonväylä. The Vaasa project is told, for example website of the environmental administration.

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“The production of paraffinic electric fuels will reach an industrial scale by 2030.”

Also synthetic ammonia is of interest. It would already be completely carbon-free. Ammonia is obtained by combining nitrogen with hydrogen. Therefore, burning it in engines does not produce carbon dioxide.

It is studied especially as a fuel for ship engines. On ships, you can ensure that ammonia is handled safely.

Green North is planning a production plant in Naantali that will manufacture green ammonia also for fuel for ship use.

Professor Ville Vuorinen group at Aalto University computationally studies the combustion of renewable fuels, such as ammonia.

Aalto University is studying the behavior of new fuels in engines with engine manufacturer Wärtsilä. Research targets include not only ammonia but also hydrogen. For example, the combustion of ammonia is studied with modeling.

in Espoo the preparation of the test equipment has progressed according to the schedule.

“The electrolysis device representing new, more efficient high-temperature technology will arrive at Bioruukki by mid-March. The preliminary testing of hydrogen production is expected to start by the end of March,” research professor Lehtonen says.

Hydrocarbon production is expected to start in early May at the latest.

“Next, a big industrial demo is needed. It can take 3-5 years to start. The production of paraffinic electric fuels will reach an industrial scale by 2030.”

The market situation and the profitability of production have an effect. According to Lehtonen, around 2025 we can see the first large electric fuel production plants. Synthetic fuels will probably be available on a large scale after 2030, he predicts.