Lifeline appears for petrol and diesel engines beyond 2035 – report

The European Union will introduce greater provision to allow the sale of new cars with internal-combustion engines after 2035 – provided they run only on synthetic petrol and diesel fuels.

According to a draft plan reportedly sighted by news outlet Reuters, the European Union’s executive branch wants to create a new type of category for vehicles running solely on carbon-neutral fuels.

The laws require a reduction in new-car tailpipe emissions of 100 per cent by 2035 – effectively banning vehicles with traditional petrol and diesel engines altogether.

However, car-makers including Porsche, BMW, and Lamborghini have been pushing for the use of synthetic fuels, which would prolong the use of internal-combustion engines for the foreseeable future.

Synthetic fuels – or e-fuels as they are sometimes referred to – are created by capturing carbon from the atmosphere and turning that into combustible liquids using sustainable energy such as wind and solar.

As with a traditional car, the liquid is burned inside the engine, with the emissions released into the atmosphere via the car’s exhaust.

However, as the carbon being released is the same amount as was previously taken out of the atmosphere and adds no more, the fuel is considered carbon neutral.

The synthetic fuel can be created to replace traditional unleaded petrol, diesel, or high-octane avgas used by aircraft.

Despite the European Union agreeing in February to the 2035 proposal – a 36-page document that made only one reference to synthetic fuels – a German-led cohort began lobbying for guaranteed allowances for the use of internal-combustion engines when powered by synthetic fuels barely a month later.