FUTURE OF FUEL

As we discuss elsewhere in this issue of 911 & Porsche World, Porsche has no plans to produce a fuel cell electric vehicle, meaning its efforts (in partnership with Siemens and Shell) in establishing a renewable energy production plant in Chile will result in green hydrogen to make synthetic petrol. Mass adoption of environmentally sound synthetic fuels capable of being used in existing and newly developed internal combustion engines makes a lot of sense, not only in keeping the world fleet on the road, but also in ensuring current infrastructure can be maintained — installing battery electric vehicle charging points at existing fuel filling stations has proved a non-starter, and it doesn’t take a genius to realise someone living in a high-rise apartment block is going to have difficulty feeding a road-parked EV from a domestic socket. E-fuels and synthetic fuels can take advantage of what’s already in place with little modification — we only have to look at the high number of LPG pumps seamlessly integrated into the UK’s fuel filling station network to see evidence of zero disruption. Most people don’t even realise they’re there.

Though government focus for sustainable motoring appears