Fuels produced with renewable energies, such as synthetic fuels, advanced biofuels and hydrogen (reFuels), are essential stepping-stones towards climate-neutral mobility. In the reFuels Rethinking Fuels project coordinated by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the participating companies and research institutions successfully carried out fuel syntheses, extensive fleet tests, and analyses in heavy-duty, passenger and rail transport.
Within the reFuels program by the Ministry of Transport, numerous projects and activities are being dealt with and discussed, up to the regulatory frameworks at federal and EU levels. They are the basis for implementing the reFuels roadmap for Baden-Württemberg. With the federally funded Innofuels platform, a nationwide network to promote the ramp-up of climate-neutral fuels was launched in March 2023 at the initiative of the states of Baden-Württemberg and Hesse.
The development of plants to produce reFuels at an industrial scale is crucial. In Germany, this is practically non-profitable without funding and support measures due to the EU regulations. It is important to maximize the support for the ramp-up of PtL fuels and to ensure absorption by the market in order to meet ambitious quotas, for example in aviation. In parallel, the transformation of Mineralölraffinerie Oberrhein (MiRO) is planned to be supported.
In order for the industry to invest in plants and for the fuels to be used in the country, barriers must be removed by the EU and the federal government: The import of green methanol from non-EU countries must be possible too and import barriers and unequal treatment with regard to raw materials must be removed. Incentives for the ramp-up of PtL fuels should be provided in a timely manner. These include a reliable economic basis in the long term, no energy tax on PtL fuels, balance sheet creditability of climate-friendly product properties in coupled procedures, development of an import strategy and logistics for hydrogen derivatives and alternative and more sustainable raw materials, and purchasing guarantees. Another important aspect is a strategy for transporting CO2 for both storage and use in the fuel sector or chemical industry.
