The Honest Case for e-Fuels

Andrew Symes, Co-Founder and CEO of OXCCU, describes the successes and drawbacks of different fuel types, and where e-fuels can find a place Criticism of e-fuels comes from opposing ends of the energy spectrum. On one side, the fossil fuel industry argues the costs are too high and that industry should simply keep emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) – an expected line of attack. On the other is the pressure e-fuels face from within cleantech itself, where critics dismiss them as a distraction from electrification, or insist that biofuels can carry the load alone, making the case for e-fuels irrelevant. The first point that everyone should agree on, even those in fossil fuels, is that electrification is going to be the most significant part of the energy transition. This means switching generation from fossil to renewables and storage, and shifting as much end demand as possible from fuels to electricity. Examples include light and heavy electric vehicles, heat pumps for homes, electrified industrial heat, larger, more flexible grids, and electricity for data centres. Countries are becoming electrostates, built around huge variable production, storage and flexible demand. That is...