eFuels made in Austria
A new generation of liquid fuels, so-called XtL (X-to-liquid), is currently developed and tested for the domestic heating market. In Graz, Austria, a PtL(Power-to-Liquid) demonstration plant is currently under construction...
Liquid fuels will play a criticial role in the energy transition, thanks to their numerous advantages compared to solid fuels:
- they can be easily transported and handled with existing fuel distribution infrastructure
- they require less storage (higher calorific value)
- they burn with much lower particles emissions
A new generation of liquid fuels, so-called XtL (X-to-liquid), is currently developed and tested for the domestic heating market. The letter X stands for the primary, renewable energy source used in the production process.
There are many types of XtL:
- FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) obtained by processing used cooking oil
- HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) obtained by processing vegetable oils, grease waste, or residues from e.g. food industry
- BtL (Biomass-to-Liquid) obtained by processing biomass
- WtL (Waste-to-Liquid) obtained by proccessing municpal solid waste
It can also be a synthetic product achieved through innovative technologies such as Power-to-Liquid where green electricity is synthesised into a liquid hydrocarbon. The outcome is a new generation of renewable liquid fuels named eFuels.
PtL demonstration plant in Austria
In Graz, Austria a PtL(Power-to-Liquid) demonstration plant is currently under construction and will begin operation by end of 2022/beginning of of 2023. IWO Austria together with AVL List GmbH, an Austrian automotive company, are the initiators of this highly innovative project, which is said to be Europe’s most innovative PtL plant. The demonstration plant consists of an electrolysis unit and a synthesis unit. The renewable electricity comes from photovoltaic modules. The biogenic carbon dioxide needed for the synthesis is delivered by Agrana, a leading Austrian sugar company, as a by-product of the sugar production.
Potential
By 2030 the plant is expected to produce up to 240 million liters of eFuels only by processing excess energy from renewable energy sources.
Areas of use
eFuels can be used in a great variety of areas, reaching from shipping and mobility to domestic heating. One of the most significant advantages of liquid fuels, such as eFuels, is that they can be used with the existing infrastructure, storage and transportation network.
"The vision of an affordable alternative, 100% made in Austria, comes to life with this demonstration plant. The project allows us to not only contribute siginificantly to the climate goals but also to save resources by continuing to use the existing infrastructure“ says Jürgen Roth (IWO Board Member and project initiator).
“Our long term goal is to replace fossil fuels with renewable liquid fuels. This requires both a spirit of innovation and technological progress“ , explains Martin Reichard (IWO).
17 June 2022
