Things are not looking good for Germany's motorists. Energy and fuel prices keep rising. We are not going to escape the energy stranglehold that Germany has surrendered to Putin any time soon. E-fuels could provide relief by replacing oil from Russia. However, there are some obstacles to overcome.
One third of Germany's oil imports come from Russia. As with gas, 55 percent of which is supplied by Russia, Germany is more dependent on Putin for oil than other Western countries. The only good thing is that there are other sources and suppliers that could be tapped.
The interest group "E-Fuel Alliance" assumes that up to 70 percent of Russia's oil imports can be replaced by alternative fuels by 2030. E-fuels are produced with electricity from renewable energies and are thus much lower in emissions than conventional petrol. The fuel alliance, which also includes Mazda, Bosch, Siemens Energy and various mineral oil companies, assumes that the new type of "synfuel" would be available in sufficient quantities at affordable prices as early as 2025. Another alternative to conventional fuel is "FuelMotion Diesel H" fuel, which is produced from residual fats and waste oils from households and industry. With this fuel, the engine's CO2 emissions are reduced by as much as 90 percent. The advantage: E-fuels can be refuelled by all combustion vehicles, whether new or vintage, and the infrastructure is already in place. The disadvantage: the ban on combustion engines from 2035 also includes e-fuels.
This is because Germany is resisting the development, as it is fully committed to e-cars and aims to significantly reduce individual transport. This is also one reason why many car manufacturers are no longer investing in combustion models. And this despite the sluggish sales of e-vehicles, which are not going as the manufacturers and the federal government had hoped, despite bonuses and tax breaks. The federal government's target is still 15 million electric cars by 2030.
Now they are hoping for a sales boost due to rising oil prices. But e-cars are just as dependent on raw materials for the production of batteries. One of the main components of the batteries is nickel, which is also heavily mined by Russia. The rise in nickel prices and any shortage of the metal on the world market could lead to fewer e-cars being sold than hoped.
But high oil prices are also a stumbling block for the mobility transition. More and more people are expected to switch to public transport, but these are mostly buses with combustion engines. But if public transport becomes expensive or the frequency is thinned out, many people prefer to get back into their own cars and pollute the cities. The promotion of alternative fuels would therefore have many advantages that would bring us closer to the climate goals than Russian oil.