THE ROLL-OUT OF EVs CONTINUES apace but, as Mr Goodwin argues in his story on the previous pages, sustainable synthetic fuels have their part to play in reducing CO₂ emissions because ICE cars, planes, ships and long-haul trucks aren’t going to immediately stop running when the ban on the sale of new ICE vehicles comes into force. In fact, some think that synthetic hydrocarbons could play a key part in the global energy supply of the future.
There are two types of sustainable synthetic fuels, both effectively recycling CO₂ already in the atmosphere. The first is made by extracting hydrogen from water by electrolysis and then synthesising it with carbon taken from the atmosphere. This is done via a mechanical process and the output is called efuels. Then there are those created using organic material or biomass, and these are called advanced biofuels. This is the type created by Coryton and used in our MX-5 test.
Mention biofuels and some will immediately think of fuel displacing food, or the space to grow food crops being used for fuel. In fact, the biomass used by Coryton is rarely ‘first generation feedstocks’. Anything that can be fermented can be used to make biofuel, including agricultural waste – wheat roots or sugar beet husks – or waste from bakeries or from wine or coffee production, according
