Porsche Backed eFuel Company Ready To Build Fuel Plant In Tasmania
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The German top marque has for some time been vocal about its ambitions to produce carbon-neutral eFuels. It has invested $75 million in HIF Global LLC, a holding company of internationally active project developers of eFuel production facilities.
From 2026, Porsche and its partners plan to produce 100 million litres of carbon-neutral eFuels per year, in Tasmania. HIF Global LLC, says its Carbon Neutral eFuel Plant will be located around 30km south of Burnie, Tasmania, with a design inspired by a similar plant in Chile.
HIF Global LLC says the plant will be located around 30 kilometers south of Burnie, Tasmania.
“Australia has exceptional renewable energy resources that can be transformed into liquid fuels and used in existing engines,” said HIF Global president and CEO Cesar Norton.
“Today, we begin the first step in Tasmania to produce hydrogen from renewable energy, capture carbon dioxide from a biogenic source and produce highly competitive eFuels that will be the carbon neutral energy of tomorrow.”
With construction planned to kick off in 2024, just in time to be ready to start producing fuel in 2026, Porsche aims to be able to produce 190 tons of fuel per day using clean and renewable energy, essentially making combustion cars greener than electric counterparts.
eFuels are produced with the help of electricity from renewable energy sources, water and CO2 from the air. In contrast to conventional fuels, they do not release additional CO2 but are climate neutral in the entire balance. Thanks to their compatibility with today’s internal combustion engines, eFuels can also power vehicles, airplanes and ships, thus allowing them to continue to operate but in a climate-friendly manner. The same applies to all heating systems that use liquid and gaseous fuels. Existing transport, distribution and fuel/gas infrastructures can also continue to be used.
Porsche says that compared to today’s conventional fuels, eFuels have as little as 8 components in them, making them better for the engines that consume them, as well as the environment. Conventional fuels have between 30 and 40 components.
Porsche hopes that if the eFuel ventures succeed, it will mean the prolonging of the life of the internal combustion engine which is an essential component in the automaker’s products. Porsche already sells a line of fully electric models.
Porsche already operates an eFuel plant in Chile, in collaboration with Siemens Energy, AME, Enel, and a Chilean petrochemical company.
