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CDA
May 15, 2023
Texas (United States) will build the largest e-fuel production plant on the planet, the last hope for combustion cars.
A few months ago, the European Union approved regulations that banned the sale of combustion cars on the continent from 2035, which gave electric cars the exclusivity of presence in dealerships. However, the EU regulation also allowed the commercialization of vehicles that move thanks to e-fuel.
In this sense, HIF Global, a company backed by Porsche, has received approval to build in Texas (United States) the largest e-fuel production plant on the planet. This factory, the company’s second after its pilot plant in Chile, will produce enough hydrogen-based fuel for 400,000 cars a year.
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Thus, with this first e-fuel plant on a commercial scale in the world, there is a fundamental step to demonstrate that this technology has a future. The small plant in Chile produces a minuscule amount of e-fuel exclusively for Porsche, using renewable energy and carbon dioxide captured directly from the atmosphere. Meanwhile, production from the Texas factory will be compatible with conventional gasoline cars.
HIF expects its fuel comes to cost “less than 1 euro per liter”, but its current price is prohibitive. The production of the fuel from the company’s facilities in Chile costs 55 dollars (about 50 euros) per liter.
E-fuel cars pollute as much as gasoline cars
In the near future, however, HIF states that “as industrial-scale e-fuel production with direct air capture becomes established, a production of around 2 euros per liter can arise«.
This announcement is very important for the e-fuel boom. Porsche is a key investor in HIF, and other car manufacturers are also interested in this technology. Stellantis, for example, has been testing many of its engines to run on this fuel.
Spain will also have a synthetic gasoline factory. This is the one that Repsol will build in Bilbao, in collaboration with Aramco, which will be operational in 2025.
