From plastic bags to nylon socks and polyester hoodies, it’s hard to imagine our lives without synthetic materials, but what about synthetic fuels? Word on the street has it that synthetic fuels could be as green as your standard electric car.
Riding to the rescue, synthetic fuels are here to save the day and could help us to reach our climate targets. Helping to reduce CO2 emissions, engines running on synthetic fuels could prove to be highly efficient and could save our bacon with their e-fuels.
It’s a promising avenue to go down and would be perfect for those of us who aren’t ready to make the switch to electric cars just yet. If you’re lucky enough to have a classic too, then synthetic fuels could be the dream.
Replacing both petrol and diesel can be done but at a cost and a hell of a lot of research. E10 fuels are already rolling out across Europe and it’s thought that synthetic fuels are not far behind. It’s looking like by 2030 synthetic fuels will be here and could allow us to enjoy and drive our cars in decades to come. There’s just so much we don’t quite know about them yet though, so we thought we’d fill you in.
What are synthetic fuels?
They are the power for the future. Unlike petrol and diesel fuels which are hydrocarbons, meaning that they are composed of hydrogen and carbon atoms, synthetic fuels or e-fuels, get their hydrogen from water and carbon from the air.
Do you see where we’re going with this? These e-fuel elements are then combined to mimic the structure of petrol and diesel along with other oil fuels. What’s amazing about synthetic fuel is that it can work so well as being a direct replacement for your standard petrol and diesel. They work so well and could be the key to keeping vintage classics and modern cars on the road for generations.
How much will it cost?
We don’t think we’re the only ones that think synthetic fuel sounds expensive but is it though? According to Porsche, it has estimated that e-petrol synthesized from using hydrogen and carbon, would cost over 10 euros a litre. Maybe. this will eventually drop to match today’s fuel prices but as far as we can tell so far, synthetics are very expensive compared to petrol and diesel.
One question that springs to mind too is that if, one day e-fuels are going to be so cheap to get hold of, should we bother making the transition to electric cars now? Synthetic fuels will be a winner all around if you can get them cheaply and they’re beneficial to reducing carbon levels too.
Will synthetic fuels become a reality?
Question is, when will synthetics become a reality and the answer to this is, we don’t actually know just yet. By the looks of things, regulators aren’t that keen in Europe. News on the grapevine has it that people are worried that it sends the wrong signal to people that internal combustion engines are fine again, despite the majority of people converting to electrics.
All we do know is that there is a lot of talk around this and whether or not it will be allowed for cars at all. All it needs is a chance to show us what it’s made of and what it can do. Formula One sound is pretty keen on the idea as it’s all about working together for that zero carbon footprint that we want to reach by 2030.
Fancy taking the plunge and selling your car now before you do it anyway for a synthetic one? We can help you get the cash that you deserve for your car and all that we need to get the ball rolling is your reg number. Enter your reg now into our online valuation tool and find out how much your car is worth today. Once you’ve got your free car valuation, you can always sell your car with Jamjar too. We’ll connect you with trusted dealers across the UK so that you can sell your car quickly and easily!
