Normal people understand that without the good old ICE, that is, on the same “trains”, you will not get far. But it is essentially impossible to explain this to the insane “greens”. And the industrialists came up with a wonderful “mulk” called “electronic fuel” to calm them down. And with his help, they have already repelled the European Commissioners’ suicide attempt to completely ban the sale of new cars with traditional engines in the European Union from 2035 onwards. Officials recently agreed in a compromise that after this date it will be possible to drive not only electric vehicles, but also (so be it!) cars that consume “electronic fuel” – Electrofuel, e-fuel.
It is presented as a product obtained by combining carbon dioxide, CO2 and hydrogen using electricity generated exclusively from renewable sources: solar energy, but also wind and hydroelectric power plants. It sounds beautiful and enticing to eco-activists because it involves using the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide they curse – CO2 – from the atmosphere.
A closer look reveals that we are talking about the so-called chemical Fischer-Tropsch process. Especially it was widely used in Germany during the Second World War for the synthesis of motor fuel from … coal.
The Greens don’t care, but in fact it doesn’t use carbon dioxide (CO2), but carbon monoxide (CO). By combining CO and hydrogen (obtained by decomposing water with electricity) in the presence of tricky catalysts, you can produce methane, ethylene, paraffins, gasoline with an octane rating of 40-55, diesel fuel … In general, a lot of fuel.
But in any case, the CO2 of the greenhouse – which was actually all the fuss about – was not even close to this. Environmental warriors are not ashamed: what is CO2, what is CO – but what is the difference? The most important thing for them is to talk smart about “decarbonization” … After all, to really fight greenhouse gas CO2 in some way, it first has to be fished out of the atmosphere and converted in some way in carbon monoxide CO.
This can be done, for example, by heating it above 2700ºС. Just imagine how much energy will be needed to organize such a process of industrial processing of CO2 to CO, and be shocked. It is possible to decompose carbon dioxide in a plasma using microwave radiation – in a kind of “microwave”. How much clean energy (not to mention the cost of equipment) it requires is also another question.
There were press reports of successful experiments to convert CO2 into CO using expensive catalysts made from silver, copper and other metals. But these groundbreaking technologies don’t get beyond lab experiments.
The plug here is in a fundamental circumstance: in order to tear off at least one oxygen atom from a CO2 molecule (to obtain CO), it is in any case necessary to expend enormous (by chemical standards) energy – comparable to what is involved in the combustion once released (combined with oxygen) pure carbon.
If humanity ever manages to cover all deserts with solar panels and place wind turbines on all shallow seas, electricity may be enough to provide the world with “electronic fuel” from carbon dioxide. But with such an energy supply from renewable sources, it makes absolutely no sense to concern yourself with the synthesis of fuel from CO2.
Why is this necessary when it becomes possible to charge batteries (or replace them like batteries in a toy car) in almost every outback? But no one tells the “environmentalists” about all this. Why: Still don’t get it. Better to let them now entertain themselves with the idea of ”electronic fuel” that disrupts the unstable psyche (but saves for the internal combustion engine).
Normal people understand that without the good old ICE, that is, on the same “trains”, you will not get far. But it is essentially impossible to explain this to the insane “greens”. And the industrialists came up with a wonderful “mulk” called “electronic fuel” to calm them down. And with his help, they have already repelled the European Commissioners’ suicide attempt to completely ban the sale of new cars with traditional engines in the European Union from 2035 onwards. Officials recently agreed in a compromise that after this date it will be possible to drive not only electric vehicles, but also (so be it!) cars that consume “electronic fuel” – Electrofuel, e-fuel.
It is presented as a product obtained by combining carbon dioxide, CO2 and hydrogen using electricity generated exclusively from renewable sources: solar energy, but also wind and hydroelectric power plants. It sounds beautiful and enticing to eco-activists because it involves using the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide they curse – CO2 – from the atmosphere.
A closer look reveals that we are talking about the so-called chemical Fischer-Tropsch process. Especially it was widely used in Germany during the Second World War for the synthesis of motor fuel from … coal.
The Greens don’t care, but in fact it doesn’t use carbon dioxide (CO2), but carbon monoxide (CO). By combining CO and hydrogen (obtained by decomposing water with electricity) in the presence of tricky catalysts, you can produce methane, ethylene, paraffins, gasoline with an octane rating of 40-55, diesel fuel … In general, a lot of fuel.
But in any case, the CO2 of the greenhouse – which was actually all the fuss about – was not even close to this. Environmental warriors are not ashamed: what is CO2, what is CO – but what is the difference? The most important thing for them is to talk smart about “decarbonization” … After all, to really fight greenhouse gas CO2 in some way, it first has to be fished out of the atmosphere and converted in some way in carbon monoxide CO.
This can be done, for example, by heating it above 2700ºС. Just imagine how much energy will be needed to organize such a process of industrial processing of CO2 to CO, and be shocked. It is possible to decompose carbon dioxide in a plasma using microwave radiation – in a kind of “microwave”. How much clean energy (not to mention the cost of equipment) it requires is also another question.
There were press reports of successful experiments to convert CO2 into CO using expensive catalysts made from silver, copper and other metals. But these groundbreaking technologies don’t get beyond lab experiments.
The plug here is in a fundamental circumstance: in order to tear off at least one oxygen atom from a CO2 molecule (to obtain CO), it is in any case necessary to expend enormous (by chemical standards) energy – comparable to what is involved in the combustion once released (combined with oxygen) pure carbon.
If humanity ever manages to cover all deserts with solar panels and place wind turbines on all shallow seas, electricity may be enough to provide the world with “electronic fuel” from carbon dioxide. But with such an energy supply from renewable sources, it makes absolutely no sense to concern yourself with the synthesis of fuel from CO2.
Why is this necessary when it becomes possible to charge batteries (or replace them like batteries in a toy car) in almost every outback? But no one tells the “environmentalists” about all this. Why: Still don’t get it. Better to let them now entertain themselves with the idea of ”electronic fuel” that disrupts the unstable psyche (but saves for the internal combustion engine).
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.