Fossil fuels will not disappear in the short or medium term, and governments plan to increase their production by 2030 by 110% more than what would be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
These are some of the conclusions reached in the report on the Production Gap of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which also points to an increase in coal production until 2030, and oil and of gas a little further, thus widening the gap between what would be necessary to maintain global temperature and reduce the consequences of climate change.
Currently there are already alternatives whose operation has been proven, such as ecofuels and efuels, which reduce carbon emissions by more than 90%, or gas and hydrogen, but these must cease to be alternatives within reach. Of a few. “Fossil fuels are and will be in the medium and long term because the world is very big and in 80% of the countries on the planet they will not be able to have expensive alternatives that are difficult to implement,” explains Marcos Moure, owner and founder of the Group. Moure.
The expert calls the reality of oil-producing and consuming countries “incoherent,” since most of them are not willing to give up their economic growth to stop environmental degradation. For all this, Marcos Moure calls for the reduction of emissions, but in a realistic way, that is, “looking for formulas to pollute less, but without affecting the competitiveness of Governments.”
From the holding company with a presence in the energy and carwash sectors, they are critical of the lack of “real measures” that are accessible to all countries. Although to date all government policies have been focused on carrying out an energy revolution, what is necessary, in the opinion of the general director of Grupo Moure, Manel Montero, is “a common, clear and realistic plan for an energy transition, outside of political and interventionist ideologies, which are not allowing the advancement of renewable energies to be attractive”, and all this without losing the focus that we must guarantee the supply.
«The world moves with energy, which must be accessible to all consumers. We cannot expect everyone to travel in an electric car, taking into account that this is not accessible to all economies, and that no thought has been given to developing the necessary infrastructure to bring energy to electric chargers,” concludes Montero. .
What are synthetic fuels
Synthetic fuels are made from hydrogen and CO2 removed from the atmosphere. For its production, electricity from renewable sources is used and through electrolysis, oxygen and hydrogen are separated from water, giving rise to renewable hydrogen. Energy companies and automobile manufacturers such as Porsche, Audi or Mazda defend this alternative. According to their calculations, it allows the emissions of a thermal car to be reduced by up to 90% during its use, while at the same time avoiding the pollution generated by producing a new vehicle and its corresponding battery.
As for ecofuels, they are neutral liquid fuels or low in CO2 emissions produced from urban, agricultural or forestry waste, from plastics to used oils. They are not made with petroleum.
According to Carlos Martín, technical and environmental director of AOP, this organization has developed a plan that contemplates the development of several technological routes for decarbonization.
The first point of the plan is based on energy efficiency, with the improvement of energy management processes and systems in the plants. It is a measure that refineries are already applying and that can lead to a 17 to 22% reduction in CO2 emissions.
A second aspect is green Hydrogen. The refining industry uses hydrogen (H2) for its industrial processes and “with this route it will be replaced by green hydrogen, produced from water with renewable electricity.” The goal for 2050 is to eliminate 100% of the CO2 generated in hydrogen production.
They do not convince environmentalists
However, these fuels are not liked by environmental associations. Thus, Transport & Environment has published a report in which it states that cars powered by synthetic fuels (e-fuels in English) will emit almost five times more CO2 than electric ones.
T&E has calculated the well-to-wheel CO2 emissions of synthetic fuels, that is, the total emissions required to produce, distribute and use the fuel.
The analysis shows that synthetic gasoline cars would emit 61 grams of CO2 equivalent per kilometer in 2035 if policymakers apply the weaker criterion of 70% carbon neutrality, required by the current EU renewable energy directive. This contrasts with electric vehicles, which would only emit 13 gCO2/km when charged with electricity from the average EU grid from 2035. To be fully carbon neutral, e-fuels would have to be manufactured with captured CO2 emissions that balance the carbon dioxide released when fuel is burned in an engine.
According to Carlos Rico, head of T&E in Spain, “although synthetic fuels would be carbon neutral according to the Commission's plan, they will continue to emit atmospheric pollutants, especially NO2 and carcinogenic particles, when burned in combustion engines.”
According to their study, tests show that cars powered by synthetic fuels emit as many nitrogen oxides (NOx) as fossil fuel engines (about 22 mg/km) and much more carbon monoxide and ammonia “which does not contribute at all to alleviate air quality problems in our cities.
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