[Column] Car Companies Producing Eco-Friendly Fuels Need Policy Support

Porsche Making Synthetic Gasoline at the Southernmost Point of the Earth
Using Internal Combustion Engines More Environmentally Friendly Than Abandoning Them
Lacking Economic Feasibility but Claiming to Be a 'Pioneer'
Hyundai and Kia Also Developing Hydrogen Cars Despite Losses
Policies Needed to Support This Effort

Located 20,000 km away from Korea, Punta Arenas in Chile, reached after a 30-hour flight, is the southernmost city on Earth. Upon arriving at the airport, the strong wind blew away the paper I was holding. "Put that kind of thing in your bag," shouted an airport staff member. In the distance from the airport, a wind turbine was visible. As I approached, the wind grew stronger, and the incessant sound of the spinning turbine was intimidating.

There, the German automobile company Porsche is producing eco-friendly gasoline. Porsche has announced plans to produce 80% of its vehicles as pure electric cars by 2030, along with a commitment to create carbon-free fuel. Instead of discarding internal combustion engines, they aim to utilize them in an environmentally friendly way.

Electric and hydrogen vehicles are not the only eco-friendly products. Currently, there are 1.3 billion internal combustion engine vehicles worldwide. The average usable lifespan of passenger cars is 18 years. For decades to come, hundreds of millions of internal combustion engine vehicles will still be on the road. Porsche has stepped up to solve this problem by introducing e-fuel to reduce carbon emissions from internal combustion engines. E-fuel is a concept that includes not only e-gasoline but also e-kerosene and e-diesel. It can be used in airplanes and ships, where batteries cannot be installed and running solely on electricity is difficult.

Our government launched an e-fuel research association in April 2021. In January last year, the association concluded in a report that e-fuel is a carbon-neutral means and could be an alternative for medium and large vehicles or aviation and shipping sectors where electrification is challenging.

It is still not easy to answer the question, "Is e-fuel humanity's future replacing fossil fuels?" Porsche remains silent about production costs due to a lack of economic feasibility. Nevertheless, they are making large-scale investments and positioning themselves as pioneers of renewable fuel. There is a Korean company that has chosen a similar path. Hyundai Motor Company and Kia have been selling hydrogen electric vehicles for several years. The hydrogen car Nexo incurs losses the more it sells. The reason they produce Nexo despite the deficit is because they are thinking about the future.

Companies are taking the lead for a carbon-free world. It is time for governments around the world to introduce policies that support such companies. An environment must be created where more companies can invest. So that future generations can live in a better environment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.