Energy Carriers for Future Mobility

Martin Härtl

doi:10.1007/978-3-658-35588-3_23

2021-11-27

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DOI：10.1007/978-3-658-35588-3_23

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The transport sector in Germany relies mainly on oil-based fossil fuels, while industry, households, and businesses derive their energy from a mix of conventional and renewable sources. This exceptional position of the transport sector has technical reasons, such as the high energy density and easy handling of liquid fuels. Taking into consideration the intended energy transition process (Energiewende), there is a growing demand for ways to utilize non-fossil energy in vehicles - that is, mainly, wind- and solar power. Based on a review of the current situation of the energy sector, this article presents different options for the use of renewable energy in transport. In particular, these are direct and indirect electrification - the former using electrochemical storage (batteries), the latter being chemical storage in the form of synthetic fuels (E-Fuels). E-Fuels combine the technical advantages (and disadvantages) of today's fuels with a sustainable carbon footprint, and they can be traded and transported globally. However, depending on the type of fuel and type of production path, the fuel synthesis comes along with significant energy losses. This has to be considered in an economic evaluation. Which are the substances best suitable as an E-Fuel for a certain application and which criteria should be considered? Firstly, this talk presents the platform-chemicals hydrogen, methane, methanol, and ammonia seen from a user perspective. They have advantages in production and infrastructure, but storage, toxicity, or combustion still are challenging. Secondly, platform E-Fuels can be transformed into more specialised functional E-Fuels in additional production steps and under additional energy effort. These fuels can replace diesel or gasoline and provide additional benefits such as reduced sooting tendency or increased ignitability or knock resistance. As an example, this talk presents recent experimental results from the research project namosyn with the fuels dimethyl carbonate and methyl formate (DMC, MeFo). This C1 oxygenate fuel (no C-C bonds in the molecule) is soot-free and virtually knock-free. This may offer a new perspective on emission-neutral future mobility with hybrid drivetrains where small combustion engines with high power density play an important role.

Keyword:

COMBUSTION

AMMONIA

PERFORMANCE

METHANOL