When we look a little further into the future, we see fuels that can lead to a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions. These ‘Power-to-Liquid’ fuels involve the use of electrolysis and green electricity to produce hydrogen, which is then combined with recycled CO2 to produce a synthetic diesel.
Recapturing CO2
Central to the principle of ‘Power-to-Liquid’ fuels are the filters that are currently being developed to capture and store CO2.
Recapturing the CO2 released during combustion and combining it with hydrogen closes the circle, with the CO2 that was initially released being reused to create fuel.
CO2 neutral
The ‘Power-to-Liquid’ fuels of the future can be distributed through the existing network of filling stations and could even be used in present-day diesel engines. They are completely CO2 neutral from ‘well-to-wheel’, as long as the hydrogen is produced using solar, hydro or wind energy, of course.
‘Power-to-Liquid’ fuels are currently being produced at a relatively high cost and on a low scale in laboratory environments. It is expected that they will be ready for use on a wider scale sometime between 2025 and 2030.
