EU states are deciding today on a planned ban on non-climate-neutral new cars from 2035. After months of wrangling, the EU Commission and Germany agree: cars with combustion engines will continue to be approved if they are operated with electronic fuels.
Indeed, it has already been agreed that no new vehicles with combustion engines should be registered in the EU from 2035 onwards. German Transport Minister Volker Wissing then changed his mind and demanded an agreement on so-called e-fuels as a condition and finally got it. “The question is: what did Germany want?” explains Michael Laczynski, from the Presse’s Europe department. “If the implicit idea was to say goodbye to the phasing out of combustion engines to see later whether gasoline and diesel could still be used, then Germany absolutely did not get what it wanted.”
Are e-fuels suitable for private transport?
E-fuels are synthetic fuels made from hydrogen and CO₂. Unlike conventional fossil fuels such as gasoline or diesel, they do not release additional climate-damaging gases. However, the use of e-fuels in private transport is controversial. Critics complain that they are more urgently needed for ships or planes and also energy-intensive to produce.
Under the slogan of “technology neutrality”, the EU is opening up not only to CO₂-neutral electronic fuels for cars, but also to nuclear-powered hydrogen. Are electronic fuels and the green combustion engine really the future of private transport? What does the buzzword “technological neutrality” mean? And what implications does Germany’s behavior have for EU decision-making processes?
More on the subject:
>>> Oliver Grimm, Wolfgang Böhm: Controversial agreement: nuclear power saves combustion engines
>>> Norbert Rief: E-Cars vs. E-Fuels: Why the competition with combustion engines is important
>>> Norbert Rief: Professor of Technology Thomas Koch: “E-fuels for the whole of Europe are possible”
>>> Christoph Zotter: Dudenhöffer on the combustion engine: “Europe is becoming an island”
Guest: Michael Laczinsky
Presenter: Christine Mayrhofer
Editing: Audiofunnel/Aaron Olsacher
Credits: DW, BR24, Die Welt, Ö24TV
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“Press Play – What’s Important” is the news podcast of the Austrian daily newspaper “Die Presse”. It is published four times a week, Tuesday through Friday, every morning at six o’clock.
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