Porsche's Development of Cleaner Fuels Dovetails With Racing
Not content to develop electric vehicles alone, Porsche's made major strides towards reducing carbon emissions with their combustion engine-powered vehicles—including a large part of their racing fleet.
A New Aim
eFuels are synthetic fuels produced, using renewable energy, from hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide. With the eFuel-based Esso Renewable Racing Fuel, which is to be used during the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season in 2022, a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 85 percent is possible, if it complies with the current fuel standard after the blending required for this purpose.
Brewed in Chile
The eFuels will be sourced from the Haru Oni pilot plant in Chile, where green hydrogen is generated using wind power and water, which is then combined with captured carbon dioxide to produce methanol. ExxonMobil is providing the license for the technology, which will enable the methanol to be converted into synthetic petroleum in the next step in the process – the methanol-to-gasoline synthesis.
In the pilot phase, more than 34,300 gallons (130,000 liters) of eFuels are to be produced per year from 2022 onwards. As the main customer for this fuel, Porsche will use the eFuels from Chile not only in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in the 2022 season but also in its Porsche Experience Centers, for example.
This eFuel is anticipated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 85 percent when blended to current market fuel standards for today’s passenger vehicles. In this pilot project, Porsche and ExxonMobil are working with other international partners to advance the development and potential future commercial viability of synthetic fuels.
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Plenty of Publicity
“The testing of new technologies in racing has a decades-long tradition at Porsche. We’re proud to be able to assume a pioneering role for Porsche on the critical topic of eFuels,” affirms Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
“The Supercup is the first international racing series to use renewable fuels. Given that our races are held as part of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, we’re very much in the eye of the media, the public and other manufacturers involved in motor racing. As a pioneer in the use of synthetic fuel in Porsche race cars, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup takes on an important communication function for the significance of eFuels at Porsche.”
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A Comprehensive Strategy
“The electrification of our vehicles is of highest priority to us,” said Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board, Research and Development of Porsche. “eFuels are a good complement to our powertrain strategy. They allow our customers to drive cars with conventional combustion engines as well as plug-in hybrids with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions. The collaboration with ExxonMobil enables us to test the eFuels under demanding conditions on the racing track. This is a further step towards making eFuels an affordable and lower greenhouse gas emission substitute to conventional fuels.”
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A Bright Future
In January, ExxonMobil announced the creation of a new business, ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, to commercialize its extensive low-carbon technology portfolio and plans to invest $3 billion on lower emission energy solutions through 2025. Last year, ExxonMobil announced plans to distribute renewable diesel within California and potentially other domestic and international markets as soon as 2022.
Over the past two decades, ExxonMobil has invested more than $10 billion to research, develop and deploy lower-emission energy solutions, resulting in highly efficient operations that have eliminated or avoided approximately 480 million tons of CO2 emissions - the equivalent of taking more than 100 million passenger vehicles off the road for a year.
It's all part of a fitting approach for such an innovative company. A strong race fleet ushering in a newer, cleaner era of motorsport; race-bred fuels strengthening the street cars; and a new vision involving gradual weaning off combustion engines are just a few parts of Porsche's well-considered plan to modernize their vehicles without drastic setbacks.
This is the way to dovetail PR demands, legitimate environmental concerns, and the need for technical innovation into one aim—perhaps done with a more comprehensive approach than similar companies can muster. What's certain is that this approach rides on the strong, inexorable spirit that'll keep Porsche part of the e-vanguard.
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