Porsche and Siemens Energy have joined hands to set up a manufacturing unit for the production of nearly CO2-neutral fuel in Chile. The duo is setting up a plant in Punta Arenas in Chile. Juan Carlos Jobet, Energy Minister of Chile, was also present during the ground-breaking ceremony for the new production unit. While this project will comprise multiple units in Chile, firms are initially setting up a pilot plant in Chilean Patagonia in Chile.
The unit is supposed to produce roughly 130,000 liters of CO2-neutral fuel, referred to as e-Fuels. At a later stage, a full-blown expansion of the facility will increase the production capacity to approximately 55 million liters and 550 million liters by 2024 and 2026, respectively.
Another big name this project involves is the ‘Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF)’, which is helping the duo in obtaining necessary permits, to begin with the construction of the plant. Meanwhile, Siemens Energy has commenced the preparation for the commercial viability of this project. The e-Fuels manufacturing plant is scheduled to come into effect by mid-2022. Along with Porsche, HIF, and Siemens Energy, Enel, Gasco, ExxonMobil, and ENAP are a part of this project.
Porsche is also planning to use e-Fuels in its range of combustion vehicles. Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG, said: “This fits in with our clear overall sustainability strategy. It means that Porsche as a whole can be net CO2 neutral by as early as 2030. Fuels produced with renewable energy can contribute to this. Our icon, the 911, is particularly suitable for the use of e-Fuels. e-Fuels will make it possible to reduce fossil CO2 emissions in combustion engines by up to 90 percent. Among other things, we’ll be using the first fuel from Chile in our Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race cars from 2022.”
Chile as a country is also betting big on reducing its carbon footprint. It has set ambitious targets as a part of its National Green Hydrogen Strategy. The country plans to have an electrolyzer capacity of 5 gigawatts (GW) by 2025, which will rise to 25 GW in the next 5 years. The nation is aiming to become a chief exporter of hydrogen and its fuel derivatives.
Besides, the Haru Oni project in Magallanes is another ace card up Chile’s sleeves. The project makes perfect use of the ideal climatic conditions for the generation of virtually CO2-neutral fuel via wind power. The process begins with electrolyzers splitting water molecules into oxygen and green hydrogen by wind energy, followed by filtering out the CO2 constituents. Air is then mixed with the green hydrogen to develop synthetic methanol. It is later used to produce e-Fuels.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Technology Express staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
