Porsche plant in Chile to produce synthetic fuel
Porsche has opened a pilot plant in Chile to make of synthetic gasoline produced in a mostly ecological way. We found that information since 20th of December 2022. Their partner is Chilean operating company Highly Innovative Fuels and they keep going.
Porsche invested 75 million USD in HIF Global LLC in April 2022, is using this pilot project, planning to open other e-Fuel production plants in Chile, the USA and Australia where there is potential for renewable energies needed in the phases production.
Hence a lot of unanswered questions, but which will be proven over a good period of time.
Porsche plays at both ends
To succeed in providing a future for internal combustion engines I.C.E. but also in order to comply with the pollution rules, Porsche already produces ecological fuel called e-Fuel.
However, they do not want to easily give up the internal combustion engine, which gives you the feeling of power and sport when you drive them any of his cars. That’s why we noticed that they started to produce a synthetic fuel that is a kind of ecological gasoline.
Although Ferdinand Porsche was the first to design a hybrid vehicle between 1900 and 1905, even nowadays on the Taycan we find the combination that combines sportiness, the power of the internal combustion engine in combination with the electric side, the simple switch to electric does not fit still in motor sports and endurance tests.
However, the main declared objective of Porsche remains the production of fully electric vehicles, in percentage of 80% of all vehicles sold by 2030.
Principle of synthetic fuel production-big names involved
The principle of producing synthetic fuel is simple, the water is electrolyzed, separating its components in the form of hydrogen and oxygen gas. Then through the partnership with Siemens, Porsche captures the carbon dioxide from the air and combines it with the previously obtained hydrogen to synthesize methanol.
This methanol is used to obtain gasoline (MTG) with the support of ExxonMobil. The fuel obtained is very ecological and at the same time meets the same high quality standards as in the case of the production of all types of gasoline today.
The method used is very green in all its stages, especially since renewable energy is used for electrolysis, i.e. solar energy and wind energy.
In estimated terms, the use of e-Fuel gasoline could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 85%, cars would not have to modify their engines, additional costs are eliminated and in the next five years production could increase to 550 million liters.
In fact is only a new business
The pilot plant for the production of synthetic fuels was opened in Punta Arenas Chile and is called Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF).
Thus, Porsche is trying a kind of e-mobility but also the production of e-Fuel. The potential is quite high considering that in the world there are currently over 1.3 billion vehicles with I.C.E. engines.
By coming up with this almost carbon-neutral alternative, Porsche competes with the classic fuel manufacturers having a huge advantage if it manages to go beyond the pilot phase and if all their estimates are confirmed.
Many questions may arise here, related to the competition and interests, to the success of this project or to the fact that it will still be decided worldwide that we have to say goodbye to the ICE internal combustion engine, or that we will have to buy green certificates to use them. Because decisions are made at another level, we can only wait and observe.
If you have comments, it would really be interesting to see how the opinions evolve.
