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The European Commission has proposed passing through the 'Regulation of efficiency standards for light vehicles' the prohibition of the marketing of combustion engines from the year 2035. . A total of 15 Spanish entities have indicated that this measure will especially affect the lowest incomes, for which they have called for a "more accessible and inclusive" energy transition.
That said, eco-fuels and synthetic fuels (low-carbon or carbon-neutral liquid fuels) can be suggested as an alternative that allows immediate and massive reduction in CO2 emissions due to compatibility with the existing fleet and infrastructure.
Synthetic fuels are made from hydrogen and CO2 extracted from the atmosphere. For its elaboration, electricity from renewable sources is used and through electrolysis, they separate the oxygen and hydrogen from the water, giving rise to renewable hydrogen. Energy companies and car manufacturers such as Porsche, Audi or Mazda defend this alternative. According to their calculations, they allowed a 90% reduction in emissions from a thermal check during use, while at the same time avoiding the pollution generated when manufacturing a new vehicle and its corresponding battery.
As far as ecofuels are concerned, their neutral or low CO2 emission liquid fuels produced from urban, agricultural or forestry waste, from plastics to used materials. They are not made with petroleum.
Spain has one of the largest refining capacity in Europe and its refineries that produce fuels from fossil fuels, such as gasoline or diesel, can even produce eco-fuels from fossil fuels that can be used in practically all the vehicles that circulate through our streets and highways. Precisely on March 9, construction work began in Cartagena on the first advanced biofuel plant in Spain, in which Repsol will invest 200 million euros. The plant tends to have a capacity to produce 250.000 tons of advanced biofuels such as biodiesel, biojet, bionaphtha and biopropane, which can be used in planes, ships, trucks or coaches, and which will allow a reduction of 900.000 tons of CO2 per year. This is an amount similar to the CO2 that a forest the size of 180.000 football fields will absorb.
Today when we refuel our vehicle at a gas station, we are already introducing 10% of these products in our homes, although we are not aware of it, and for each percentage that we increase we would achieve a saving of 800.000 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
energy dependency
According to Víctor García Nebreda, general secretary of the Madrid Service Station Employers' Association (Aeescam), eco-fuels could considerably reduce our dependence on foreign energy. From his point of view "the raw material is here and the refining industry too, but it is essential that the EU and Spain create legal certainty to achieve the large investments necessary and above all that some technologies in benefit of others”.
Nebreda argued that the goal is to reach 2050 with a net balance of 0 emissions. This does not only mean "that CO2 is not emitted through the exhaust pipe, it means that the entire cycle, from the well to the wheel, of a net balance 0″. In this sense, she explained that any electric vehicle does not produce emissions in an exhaust pipe "if the battery is manufactured there depending on how the most polluting electricity is generated".
Ecofuels can make a fundamental contribution to achieving these objectives since "the principle of technological neutrality is basic and it would be inexcusable not to allow the development of everything that allows us to achieve the desired objectives," he concluded.
