International experts criticize one-sided information policy surrounding synthetic fuels: myths and half-truths prevent an objective discussion
Vienna (OTS) – The climate change is a global challenge that can only be successful if all technically available solutions are included in the transformation of the global energy system. However, myths and half-truths surrounding synthetic energy sources – including eFuels – are currently preventing a fact-based, objective discussion, according to the international representatives from business and science who were guests at the 2nd eKKon conference in Vienna. Above all, the future price development and the availability of eFuels are sometimes deliberately misrepresented in the public discourse in order to justify the electric-only strategy, said Thomas Koch, head of the Institute for Piston Engines at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, among others.
The price of eFuels will fall once production takes place on an industrial scale
For the first time there were reliable statements from producers about the future price development of eFuels. Dorothea Nold, Senior Market Officer at eFuel pioneer HIF Highly Innovative Fuels in Berlin, reported that once production takes place on an industrial scale, manufacturing costs will fall significantly and 80 cents per liter by 2030 is absolutely realistic. HIF is launching several eFuels projects in different regions of the world and is already negotiating with large international buyers. Philipp Furler, founder and CEO of Synhelion AG, a Zurich-based technology company that produces fuels based on solar heat, also confirms the price forecast.
The legal framework in the EU is impractical and hostile to investors
In this context, Lorenz Kiene, Managing Director of eFuel GmbH, criticized the high legal hurdles that the EU has created for European companies. Above all, the criteria set by the EU for “green” hydrogen are far too narrow and would make things unnecessarily difficult for European companies. While the EU gets lost in the small print and sticks to its electric-only strategy, the European supply industry is collapsing.
Benjamin Krieger, General Secretary of CLEPA in Brussels, and Christian Fölzer from the Austrian Bau-Holz union warned urgently in their presentations against handing over technical know-how in the vehicle industry to China. In order for Europe to survive in the long term as a business location, a technologically open regulatory framework is a basic requirement, says Krieger. What the industry really needs from politicians are reliable facts, openness to technology and a strategy for a closed CO2 cycle, the business community said.
The Viennese sustainability law expert Johannes Hartlieb from the law firm Haslinger – Nagele analyzed the legal traps for investors who actually only want to meet the goals set by politicians themselves. The Graz procurement law expert, Attorney Wilhelm Offenbeck, warned that the legislature is forcing public transport companies to purchase hydrogen buses and electric trucks, which are many times more expensive than urban buses, garbage trucks and snow plows that run on green fuel.
Politics must create a legally secure framework for investments
„It is the job of politics to set the goal and not the technology. Europe’s companies have demonstrated their innovative strength many times in the past. They also now have innovative solutions that can significantly contribute to saving the global climate. Instead of working with bans, politicians should create a legally secure framework that allows the necessary investments to flow quickly into concrete projects. In addition, there is a need for an intelligent definition of green hydrogen, an objective discussion about alternative energy sources and a rapid move away from the electric-only strategy
”demands Jürgen Roth, CEO of the eFuel Alliance Austria, in his conclusion to the two days of the conference.
Stephan Schwarzer, Secretary General of the eFuel Alliance and responsible for organizing the conference, criticized the unwillingness of institutions critical of eFuels, such as the Climate Ministry and the Energy Agency, to at least deal with new findings and developments. In total, 37 protagonists brought together a lot of new things. “Willingness to engage in dialogue looks different.” His closing words are conciliatory: „More than just light at the end of the tunnel is the first major eFuel report from the International Energy Agency in Paris, which calls for a rethinking of politics and a reversal of thrust from braking to acceleration. This rethinking will occur at all levels, as it is now officially recognized that the climate goals are unattainable without eFuels.
”
Questions & Contact:
eFuel Alliance Austria
Dr. Stephan Schwarzer
Secretary General
+43 664 381 88 26
s.schwarzer@efuel-alliance.at
https://www.efuel-alliance.at/