Making e-fuels tangible – that is the goal of the series of events organized by the e-Fuels Forum since summer 2021. On 08.04.2022 the tour team visited the CLASSIC gas station Apensen. One highlight: the wrapped BMW Mini, which the guests were allowed to refuel at the end of the event with e-fuels from the technology partner Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz (CAC).
Everyone is talking about electromobility, but it is not the only option for climate-friendly mobility. At an information event organized by the e-Fuels Forum at the CLASSIC service station in Apensen, interested parties learned all about synthetic fuels. Guests included Helmut Dammann-Tamke, Member of the State Parliament (CDU), Petra Tiemann, Member of the State Parliament (SPD) and Matthias Mittlmejer, candidate for the State Parliament (SPD).
After welcoming the attendees, Dirk Greife, Managing Director of the Lühmann Group and initiator of the e-Fuels Forum, provided information on the importance, production and advantages of e-fuels. To produce these, water is first split into oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) by electrolysis. In a second step, the hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide (CO2). For e-fuels to be CO2 neutral, the electricity used to produce them must come from renewable sources such as wind and solar power. The CO2, in turn, can be extracted from the air. So while burning fossil fuels such as diesel and gasoline releases new CO2 into the atmosphere, with e-fuels it is only the CO2 that was previously removed from the air.
“With e-fuels, CO2-neutral mobility is possible, all over the world, and in some cases much faster and cheaper than with other alternatives, because existing infrastructure such as tankers, tank farms and refueling stations can continue to be used,” Greife emphasized in his presentation. “We must take advantage of all technologies that lead to an improvement in our carbon footprint, whether in the area of mobility or heat. Global warming will not forgive any delay,” he added.
The hosts made it clear at the end of the event that e-fuels are not just an idea on paper, but reality: At the end, the guests were allowed to refuel the BMW Mini in campaign design with synthetic fuel from Chemieanlagenbau Chemnitz.
