Is it possible that some new technology has been developed in Germany to produce synthetic fuels that are efficient economically? Near Police, the ruins of a German synthetic gasoline factory (6.5 million tons were produced in 1944) still haunt the area.
– I am generally up to date with publications on new technologies for the production of alternative fuels, published by recognized scientific publishers. In my opinion, there is currently no “secret technology”, except for those I have already mentioned partially and briefly. Talk of rapid deployment of hydrogen technologies and the use of hydrogen as a universal energy carrier is also premature, in my opinion. It should be remembered that the production of 1 kg of hydrogen using modern technologies emits, according to various sources, from 10 to 13 or even more kg ofCO2. The new technologies, using renewable energy, are expected to lead to 4 kg ofCO2 emissions per kg of hydrogen, according to U.S. government sources, and in the future reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 2 kg per kg of hydrogen. So the environmental effect of introducing hydrogen widely is questionable, leaving aside the fact that hydrogen emissions into the atmosphere, according to British sources, are 11 times more dangerous thanCO2 emissions. Myself, I think that the possible approval of e-fuels for internal-combustion engines provides a certain gateway to allow further production of these engines and their operation. Keep in mind that the next two years are expected to lead to possible adjustments and clarifications in this regard. There is also a problem raised by some countries that are requesting to allow the production and operation of engines powered by biomethane as a fuel. The reasoning behind this issue stems from the fact that methane , including environmental methane, has 38 times the ozone-depleting potential of carbon dioxide. Hence, the use of biomethane in combustion processes in engines, does result inCO2 emissions, but the negative environmental effects will be much less than in the case of natural fermentation of bio-waste and direct emission of CH4 into the atmosphere. As you can see, however, the issue of a possible ban on the production of internal combustion engines is not closed, especially with the development of new technologies for obtaining synthesis gas and its possible fermentation, signature electro-fermentation processes, and even the development of the vision of so-called petrosynthesis, that is, the use of modern industrial emissions for the production of new energy carriers.
– Poland has vast resources of raw materials (natural and waste) from which liquid synthetic fuels can be produced.
– In Poland, there are perhaps a dozen research centers, universities and institutes conducting research work on new technologies for obtaining alternative fuels. The problem perhaps lies not only in the dispersion of this research, but primarily in the cost-intensity of investment in industrial solutions implementing these technologies and the existence of so-called technological risks and relatively unstable legal conditions. The technology of a solution developed at the laboratory scale requires undergoing a difficult and costly process of so-called technology scaling, that is, its verification in quarter- or half-technical installations allowing a high level of technological readiness to enable industrial-scale implementation. In addition, in most aid programs, research centers cannot directly obtain research funding in these programs, because the applicant must be an economic entity planning to implement a new technology, with adequate infrastructure, personnel facilities and, most importantly, an adequate contribution of its own financial resources. In the European structures, there is a Bio-Based Industry Consortium (BIC) with large funds for financing technological investments of the research, demonstration or industrial scale type, but full members of this consortium can be business entities, creating research and implementation topics and receiving appropriate funding, but also paying annual dues, the amount of which depends on the size of the company in question. Unfortunately, apart from Polish subsidiaries of multinational companies, there are no Polish companies in this consortium. Several Polish research centers are associate members and can participate in the implementation of projects awarded for implementation by the respective applicants from the enterprise group. However, we have solutions already being implemented, such as the EtG technology I mentioned above and the thermolysis technology for waste plastics.
– Biofuels have not yet been popularized. Does the exception that the Union has now made open an opportunity for these fuels?
– As I mentioned before, biofuels especially the first generation derived from plants have not met environmental and social expectations due to the use of food-grade raw materials for industrial purposes. On the other hand, the cultivation of crops, so-called industrial crops, can cause a reduction in the acreage of food crops. This has led to the development of a second generation of biofuels obtained from bio-waste including wood lignocellulose. Unfortunately, there are not very efficient industrial technologies for converting this lignocellulose into ethyl alcohol, used as a component for motor gasoline. In principle, only used vegetable oils, including frying oils and other waste fats of animal origin, remain for diesel fuel composition. Basic requirements for fatty acid esters and ethanol approved as suitable components for motor fuels have emerged. These requirements have been adopted by leading engine and internal combustion vehicle manufacturers and are specified in the current edition of the World-Wide Fuel Charter (WWFC). However, the use of even compliant esters and alcohol by engine manufacturers creates some operational problems for engines. In the case of esters, there is a relatively short storage and operating time for oils containing esters due to a reduction in the oxidative stability required for them; in the case of ethanol, an increase in vapor pressure, with the possibility of gasoline becoming unreliable. Bringing possible new biofuels to market creates additional logistical and distribution problems. The gravity of these problems has led to the intention to develop drop-in fuel technologies, that is, to produce synthetic hydrocarbons obtained from biomass and waste of biological origin, including in biorefinery systems, mixtures of which can constitute fuels that comply with the relevant subject standards or can be added to conventional fuels in any ratio. Work is continuing in this area, but arguably environmental requirements, including the full life cycle of these fuels in terms of emissivity of technological processes and the energy requirements needed to produce them, create technological barriers.
– Do you think the stagnation in the use of biofuels and synthetic fuels to date is the result of a hidden diversion by oil companies?
– I am not a proponent of the conspiracy theory of history. I can’t imagine leaving oil as a valuable resource, nota bene produced by nature as ballast. Currently, we cannot imagine how many chemical compounds necessary for many synthesis processes come from oil processing. The question that has been bothering me for a long time is what would happen to oil, in nature, if it were not extracted and processed. We know that the so-called Mother Nature does not produce anything that is not needed for the existence and development of any system. So, why were deposits of oil, coal gas, etc. produced in the permanent natural development of our Earth? But leaving aside this question, oil companies are working and even funding research on the possible transformation of the petrochemical industry towards the development of less environmentally damaging technologies and the creation of new energy carriers ranging from the improvement of HVO technology to hydrogen technologies, as well as electrofuels. Let’s also remember that our Polish, currently the only oil company, is obliged to ensure a mandatory share of bio-components in the diesel and motor gasoline produced.
– The EU announced several years ago that it was funding the FReSMe project – combining carbon dioxide absorption with an advanced methanol synthesis process. Steel production produces several gas streams, which are usually burned in the steel mill’s power plant or used to generate electricity with highCO2 emissions. Methanol produced according to. FReSMe is intended as an alternative to fossil fuels used by ships. What do you think about it?
– In my opinion, this is another idea to reduce uncontrolled emissions caused by shipping, where the fuel used in the main engine is practically a residual fuel. While the essence of the idea is similar to the concept of the environmental impact of electrofuels and involves converting captured carbon dioxide and arguably hydrogen from other post-industrial gas streams into methanol. The carbon content of methanol and carbon dioxide is equimolar, so when this methanol is burned in the combustion chamber of a marine engine, the same amount ofCO2 will be released into the atmosphere as was absorbed to produce it. Everything would be ideal if it was known how much energy and of what origin would be processed in the methanol synthesis process, what the environmental effects of the overall processes would be, taking into account the impacts of logistics systems. Similarly, as for hydrogen extraction processes, it is important to determine the amount of possibleCO2 emissions generated when, for example, 1m3 of methanol is produced and delivered to the vessel’s fuel tank. Knowing this information, it would be possible to confirm the technical and environmental sensibility of the proposed solution, provided that the process of operating this fuel in an actual engine and its impact on the durability and reliability of this engine is tested with positive results.
– How to evaluate the C-Gen project developed in Poland?
– I know this technology only from a fairly general description. From this description, however, the complexity of the offered technological process is apparent. Even the best solution will be widely introduced as long as there is public demand. Indirectly, the manufacturer of a given commodity is responsible for creating this demand, and should convince the potential user of the legitimacy of the purchase. Regardless, I state with all responsibility that there is no environmentally friendly technology and there is not, has not been and will not be a technology that does not produce waste, in the broad sense of the word. Technologies can only be less harmful to the environment than others, and the resulting waste from a given technological process must be further processed with new technologies or, as a last resort, deposited in the wider environment. Each of the following technologies requires energy conversion, which results in emissivity regardless of the source of that energy. In order to manufacture a photovoltaic panel or produce and sit a wind turbine, it is also necessary to process energy, along with the emissions that accompany the process. In addition to this, energy expenditures and the carbon footprint of disposing of used equipment should be taken into account. Therefore, I would be able to evaluate C-Gen’s technology knowing its level of technological readiness at scale, at least semi-technical, and the total mass and energy balances of the entire proposed unit processes, along with a full life cycle analysis (LCA) of the overall process.
– Thank you for the interview.
