Synthetic fuels will be the future for classic cars

[RicksAlfas]

I went to a very interesting presentation by Mark Gallagher last night which discussed the future of F1 and their planned use of synthetic fuels in order to reduce emissions but still use an internal combustion engine. They do not want to go full electric. The knock on from this will be synthetic fuels for aviation and any other form of transport which will need a "drop in fuel" to operate. e.g. Classic cars.

The presentation was very confident that the future of the classic car is strong. Yes, we might face road pricing, but so will everything else. But we will still be able to use our old cars in a responsible way without replacing their existing drivetrains with batteries and motors.

Couple of links which might be of interest:

https://zeropetroleum.com/who-we-are/

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2021/company/porsc...

[PositronicRay]

RicksAlfas said:

I went to a very interesting presentation by Mark Gallagher last night which discussed the future of F1 and their planned use of synthetic fuels in order to reduce emissions but still use an internal combustion engine. They do not want to go full electric. The knock on from this will be synthetic fuels for aviation and any other form of transport which will need a "drop in fuel" to operate. e.g. Classic cars.

The presentation was very confident that the future of the classic car is strong. Yes, we might face road pricing, but so will everything else. But we will still be able to use our old cars in a responsible way without replacing their existing drivetrains with batteries and motors.

Couple of links which might be of interest:

https://zeropetroleum.com/who-we-are/

https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/2021/company/porsc...

I think this was always on the cards, the 2030 ban is just for new fossil fuel only cars so plenty of mileage yet for ICE.

[sixor8]

I was watching the rally highlights on itv4 last week and they had a piece about this. All WRC cars run on, if not synthetic, then some kind of zero carbon biofuel already, or at least that is what was suggested.

[TonyRPH]

I guess that fuel from coal is not entirely synthetic?

I suppose the fact that it's derived from coal still makes it a fossil based fuel, so not 100% sure how they deem it to be synthetic.

Sasol said:

24 August 2005
Sasol has produced almost 1,5 billion barrels of synthetic fuel from about 800 million tonnes of coal since the first sample of synthetic oil from coal was produced fifty years ago at its Sasolburg plant near Johannesburg in South Africa on 23 August 1955.

Regarded as a world technology leader in the production of coal-to-liquids (CTL), Sasol operates the world's only commercial scale synthetic plant at Secunda, where it produces 150 000 barrels of liquid fuel per day.

[RicksAlfas]

My understanding is the ultimate goal is to recapture carbon and make the fuel from that.
The Porsche - Siemens site in Chile extracts it from the sea.

[PositronicRay]

RicksAlfas said:

My understanding is the ultimate goal is to recapture carbon and make the fuel from that.
The Porsche - Siemens site in Chile extracts it from the sea.

Isn't coal captured carbon?

[a8hex]

PositronicRay said:

RicksAlfas said:

My understanding is the ultimate goal is to recapture carbon and make the fuel from that.
The Porsche - Siemens site in Chile extracts it from the sea.

Isn't coal captured carbon?

Yes, but by that measure so is oil from a well.

They are both fossil fuels in that the carbon was laid down a long time ago.

[NMNeil]

Just a distraction is this gentleman's claim, and I agree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlkkMA2BTf4
But don't worry, with the increase in EV's there will be plenty of petrol available for classics, right up until it's uneconomic to drill for and refine oil, but that will be decades away.