Synthetic fuels (or synfuels) are liquid or gaseous fuels that are practically similar to fossil fuels in everything but the way they’re produced. While conventional fossil fuels come from the process of organic matter being turned into coal, natural gas or oil, underground, over millions of years, synthetic fuels are produced artificially by replicating these natural processes, using renewable sources such as water, biomass, and carbon dioxide.

As the political demands for a carbon-neutral future (and mass electrification) get more persistent, many purists in the automotive industry keep clamoring for synthetic fuels to take over as a substitute for both fossil fuels and electric vehicles. Such is the case for Ferrari and Porsche, which are both heavily invested in e-fuels, a type of synfuel produced through electrolysis and seen as a suitable alternative to electric batteries. It is easy, at face value at least, to make a case for such an approach.

Under the present conditions, it seems rather unlikely that e-fuels can become cheap and abundant early enough to replace fossil fuels on a broad scale. The study published by the Nature Climate Change journal strongly asserts that e-fuels cannot override the “urgent need for broad electrification”, and deems them unlikely to help reach the 2030 climate target. However, the research paper also judges e-fuels as likely to become a competitive option as technological advancements help reduce their processing costs over the years.

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