Europe is looking to clean its transport infrastructure and make it as sustainable as possible. Obviously, the future of personal mobility belongs to electric cars. In fact, it is becoming a little bit silly calling it “the future” as electric cars are already very common on today’s roads. However, a new study, shared by BMW as well, showed that moving towards fossil-free transport is not going to happen on electrification of drive systems alone.
Liquid fuels still seem essential for our future. Image credit: BMW
Electric cars are great. When a country can make at least most of its power in sustainable fashion – like wind farms and nuclear power plants – electric cars can be extremely clean. However, there are still concerns about the ability of the grid sustaining increasingly electricity-hungry transport. In fact, a new study, done by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the German Biomass Research Centre, FREYBERGER engineering and BMW showed that making the entire transport sector fossil-free is not going to be possible by just relying on electric drive. It just is not going to happen.
Researchers believe that liquid fuels are essential to our future because they can be integrated into the existing supply infrastructure without major modifications. One needs to understand that while promoting electric cars can change the look of what people are buying, many older petrol and diesel powered cars will remain on the road for decades and decades to come. Unless they get banned or something.
This is not from that study, but a lot of people do believe that keeping an older car running is actually better for the environment as its manufacturing is already done. No manufacturing, no recycling, no logistics associated with those two processes – why wouldn’t you run your old car till it’s done? Also, a lot of people just like their noisy and stinky cars. Making them cleaner is possible through Carbon Neutral Fuels (CNFs).
If we are committed to being environmentally conscious, we need to take our grid into account too. Replacing all transport with electrically-driven machines may not be an actually sustainable option. For example, BMW itself in its Leipzig plant uses hydrogen‑powered industrial trucks and forklifts. Hydrogen can be used as a liquid fuel, which makes refueling a very fast and easy job.
All in all, it will have to be a complex solution if we want to have a clean transport infrastructure. We will need battery-electric, hydrogen and conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. Those can burn sustainable fuels, made without fossil fuels.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: BMW