Frankfurt The Federal Environment Ministry is providing around six million euros for the planned e-fuel plant of the Karlsruhe company Ineratec – money from the so-called environmental innovation program. From 2024, 3,500 tons of the synthetic fuel are to be produced annually in the Frankfurt-Höchst factory. This is to be used primarily in aviation and shipping.
Philipp Engelkamp, co-founder and one of the managing directors of Ineratec, sees the support from Berlin as more than just a financial contribution. “The funding is above all a political signal that shows that all parties now accept that e-fuels play a central role in making aviation and shipping climate-neutral.”
The company, which was founded in 2014, is investing more than 30 million euros in its facility in Frankfurt. If all goes according to plan, it could become the world’s first industrial-scale e-fuel facility.
Technologies for the production of synthetic fuel are being researched around the world. But so far there are only pilot plants. According to the company, the Ineratec factory is an “initial industrial plant”, on the basis of which industrial series production can then be set up worldwide.
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The plant in Höchst is just the beginning, says Engelkamp. “We want to become the world’s largest manufacturer of e-fuels.”
In aviation and shipping, synthetic petrol is a key lever for becoming climate-neutral. Ineratec is building a first industrial plant near Frankfurt.
(Photo: dpa)
E-fuels, also known as SAF in aviation, can be produced in several ways. Basically, biofuel is produced from non-fossil and renewable raw materials in complicated chemical processes.
Some companies use household waste or agricultural waste for this purpose. With the help of green electricity, water and carbon dioxide (CO2) can also be extracted from the air and processed into kerosene. This means that e-fuel has a significantly better climate balance than fossil fuels.
E-fuels can be produced in several ways
Aviation and shipping in particular are dependent on e-fuels so that their means of transport will have fewer emissions in the future. Due to the lack of capacity of the batteries, electric drives are out of the question for the often long distances and the heavy weight that the vehicles have to move.
In Hoechst, Ineratec accesses what is already available in the chemical park there. “Frankfurt-Höchst is the best location in Germany. We use locally available biogenic CO2 and green hydrogen,” says Engelkamp: “We assume that we will be able to start the commissioning phase from September next year. Normal plant operation is planned for the first quarter of 2024.”
With the plant, Ineratec wants to show that there is market-ready technology for the production of e-fuels. The company already has cooperation partners for half of the quantity produced there, and they are currently looking for the other half, says Engelkamp: “It is not important to us to necessarily achieve the highest price. We want the right partners, for example in aviation and shipping, to raise the system to a level so that it can then be duplicated worldwide.”
The funding from the federal government is also a good signal for Engelkamp because there is a risk of losing know-how in this business to other countries. “Thanks to the extensive EU funding for research and development, we are in an incredibly good technological situation when it comes to e-fuels in Europe,” he says.
In the meantime, however, the USA and Asia have also recognized the market potential of synthetic fuels and have set up comprehensive support programs there. Engelkamp says: “I see the danger that technology will migrate at the crucial moment. The federal government must react here.”
More: Synthetic kerosene – the beacon of hope above the clouds