Features
4 Jul 18

Electric not the way forward?

Every now and then, the Canada based company Carbon Engineering (CE) pops up. CE is a privately owned company, funded by people like Microsoft’s Bill Gates and – interestingly – the oil and mining billionaire Murray Edwards. CE has close ties with Canadian universities and several clean tech institutions.

Air to Fuel Trademark

CE’s technology is easy to explain. It captures CO2 from the atmosphere and turns it into synthetic fuel that can be used by internal combustion engines without requiring any transformation to the technology of the engine. Because the synthetic fuel doesn’t contain any carbon, cars using fuel based on CE’s technology would not emit any CO2.

The Canadian company claims that one facility, which would operate in a carbon-neutral way, can capture up to one million ton of CO2 per year, which is the equivalent of about 250.000 cars.

Flaws of the electric ecosystem

According to industry people supporting CE’s technology, there are too many flaws in the strategy to promote electric vehicles, the total cost of development being a major one.

OEM’s and peripheral suppliers are said to have already invested $90 billion in the development and promotion of electric vehicles, without substantial results. Furthermore, additional costs will rise from power generation and network expansion, as well as from high transportation costs. Also, government subsidies to enhance the sales of electrified vehicles adds to the bill.

It’s worth noting again that CE’s solution doesn’t require any modification, nor to vehicles, nor to the fuel distribution network.

Commenting on the impact on ecology by EVs, the “Air to Fuel” are sceptic. Most of the world’s electricity is still not produced in a carbon neutral manner. EVs would therefore not solve the issue, just move it from the car to the plant.

Why is CE popping up again?

At $550 to $1,300 to capture a metric ton of carbon dioxide, the Initial estimates of the cost to produce one litre of carbon neutral fuel were not favourable for its technology. It would have ended up at a fuel price of over $5 per litre.

New studies however demonstrate that the capture cost is a lot lower ($94 to $232), which would land the litre price at about 1$.

This new calculation changes the equation totally, especially as the carbon-neutral fuel could be used not only for cars, but also to power any engine powered by fossil fuel today. Impact on the environment shows a much better potential than only electrifying vehicles.

Important for the Fleet Manager?

As we can’t buy CE’s fuel today at our local Shell or Caltex service station, it’s not going to change our lives drastically any time soon. But it does remind us that we need to keep our eyes open for technologies beyond electric.

(picture downloaded from Carbon Engineering’s website)

Authored by: Yves Helven