Synthetic fuels: made from the right material at Pikes Peak Car News

After proving that the car has the pace, it means the team has an unfinished business. So far, there has been no official company approval for a second leg, but it’s likely a safe bet that the Bentley Boys will be back next year.

Actors of the future

For high-end companies that make big, powerful engines, synthetic fuel, which has the potential to deliver a zero carbon footprint, is a way to maintain brand integrity as the world goes green. Not only can “alternative” synthetic fuels run in existing and unmodified engines (with the possible exception of an updated fuel card), there are also many major markets around the world that do not exist. have yet to announce a ban on the sale of ICE.

Porsche announced earlier this year that its Mobil 1 Supercup cars will run on ExxonMobil’s 98-octane renewable Esso racing fuel, a synthetic biofuel produced from food waste, with a view to later switching to advanced e-fuel. made from atmospheric CO 2 and hydrogen. .

ExxonMobil is also developing a synthetic fuel made from algae raw materials, in collaboration with Synthetic Genomics. Like all plant matter, algae consume CO2 when growing and can produce five times more biofuel per acre than corn or sugar cane. The plan is to produce 10,000 barrels per day of algae-based biofuels by 2025.

What is synthetic fuel?

There are different types of durable liquid fuels, and the terminology can be confusing. Some are derived from plant materials, some are not, but the end result can be similar. Some require engine modifications, while others (like Bentley’s advanced biofuel blend) are a direct substitute for gasoline.

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) has been used for years as a gasoline additive, blended at 5% and now 10% in Europe, with the latter arriving in the UK this year. In the United States, there are approximately 21 million flexible fuel vehicles that run on E85 gasoline, which has an ethanol content between 51% and 83%. Some 3,500 stations serve it in 42 states, but the focus today is not on alcohol-based fuel. The conversion of ethanol to gasoline (ETG) and methanol to gasoline (MTG) produces an alternative synthetic fuel. ExxonMobil’s collaboration with Porsche (see left) will eventually evolve towards the production of synthetic gasoline using MTG.

Hydrogen from the oil giant’s Haru Oni ​​plant in Chile will react with CO2 captured in the atmosphere to produce methanol and from this easy-to-use synthetic fuel.

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