Alternative fuels
The climate plan of the EU envisages that from 2035, only zero-emission cars will be registered in Europe. A potential successor to combustion engines – the electric car – is already in the starting blocks. But there are other ways of powering a vehicle in addition to electric current. You might be asking yourself: What alternatives to petrol, diesel, and electricity are there? And how do these types of drive differ from each other? This article provides answers to these questions.
Liquefied petroleum gas
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is a mixture of propane and butane liquefied under pressure. This is a by-product and is produced during the extraction of crude oil and natural gas as well as in refineries. The gas has a chemical composition similar to that of petrol. After appropriate conversion, it can be used in conventional petrol engines.
Compared with petrol, LPG emits up to 10% less CO2. However, conventional diesel performs even better in this respect. This emits up to 12% fewer pollutants than petrol.
There are currently 59 LPG filling stations in Switzerland.
Natural gas
Natural gas consists mainly of methane and, like petroleum, is a combustible organic raw material. At petrol stations, natural gas is usually found as CNG (compressed natural gas). The gas is stored in the tank of the vehicle at a pressure of 200 bar. A distinction is made between bivalent and monovalent natural gas vehicles. Bivalent vehicles can run on either natural gas or petrol. On the other hand, monovalents are specially optimised for operation with natural gas.
The combustion of natural gas produces fewer pollutants than a petrol or diesel vehicle. For example, CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 20% compared with petrol.
There are currently 144 natural gas filling stations in Switzerland.
By the way: Natural gas and LPG are not the same. LPG vehicles cannot be filled with natural gas and vice versa.
Hydrogen
The hydrogen serves as fuel for the fuel cell installed in the vehicle. That’s why these cars are also called fuel cell vehicles. In the fuel cell, hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen react to form water. This produces heat and electrical energy. This, in turn, drives the electric motor. Fuel cell vehicles are therefore also electric vehicles.
These are locally emission-free on the road. However, the production of hydrogen is quite energy-intensive. Depending on how the hydrogen is produced, a distinction is made between green and grey hydrogen. To produce the green version, only renewable electricity is used for electrolysis (i.e. the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen). With grey hydrogen, on the other hand, the electricity required comes from fossil fuels.
There are currently two hydrogen filling stations in Switzerland.
Synthetic fuel
Synthetic fuels – also called e-fuels – are fuels for petrol and diesel engines that are produced by chemical processes. E-fuels consist of a combination of hydrogen and CO2. By arranging the atoms accordingly, they can optionally take on the basic properties of petrol, diesel, or even paraffin. The big advantage of this: Existing vehicles do not need to be converted because synthetic fuels are compatible with current versions of engines.
As is also the case with hydrogen: Provided that the energy for electrolysis comes from sustainable resources, e-fuels do not emit any additional CO2. The vehicles emit only the amount of carbon dioxide that was bound in advance during the production of the e-fuel.
The similarity of e-fuels to conventional fuels means that the existing filling station network can still be used.
Sources:
https://www.adac.de/verkehr/tanken-kraftstoff-antrieb/alternative-antriebe/
https://www.gas-tankstellen.de/menu.php
https://www.cosmosdirekt.de/autoversicherung/alternative-antriebe/
https://www.autozeitung.de/synthetische-kraftstoffe-196137.html?image=0