InnoFuels

Synthetic fuels from renewable energies, so-called reFuels, promise up to 90 percent CO2 reduction compared to conventional fuels. They can be produced in large quantities and can already be used in almost all vehicles. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have demonstrated this in large-scale projects such as the "reFuels - Rethinking Fuels" project funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg.

The new InnoFuels platform is now to network the many national and European research projects on the further development, production, and application of power-to-liquid and biofuels, to identify synergies, and thus to help accelerate the production of larger quantities of electricity-based liquid fuels in particular.

So far, electricity-based fuels have been produced mainly on a research scale. If there are to be increasing blending rates of these fuels in the future and sufficient reFuels are to be available for aviation and shipping, much larger quantities will have to be produced on an industrial scale.

In addition to technical issues, the InnoFuels platform will therefore also discuss the optimum design of rules and economic conditions for the widespread mass production of reFuels. For a rapid market ramp-up, potential producers need clarity and long-term certainty as to whether renewable electricity-based fuels will count toward the greenhouse gas reduction quotas for achieving the European Union's climate protection targets.

The InnoFuels platform is intended to bundle all available information on reFuels, jointly develop overall solutions in teams with experts from science, industry and politics, and prepare guidelines as well as research and action recommendations. The project is scheduled to run for 3.5 years and is being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport with around 5.2 million euros.

CENA participates in the InnoFuels monitoring group and also leads the aviation application field together with DLR and Lufthansa.

The partners in the project are:

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with the Institute for Piston Engines and the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology; Mineralölraffinerie Oberrhein GmbH & Co. KG (MiRO); Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW); e-Mobil BW State Agency for New Mobility Solutions and Automotive Baden-Württemberg; Infraserv GmbH & Co. Höchst KG; Institute of Aerospace Combustion Technology of the German Aerospace Center; CENA, Hessen Trade & Invest GmbH; Deutsche Lufthansa AG; University of Rostock, Chair of Piston Engines and Internal Combustion Engines; Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH (RRS); Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG; Volkswagen AG; DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnützige GmbH; International PtX Hub Berlin; RheinMain University of Applied Sciences; Frontier Economics Limited. 

In addition to the joint applicant, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport, the Hesse Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing, the Competence Center Climate and Noise Protection in Air Transport Hesse (CENA), the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) and, as industry representatives, Mineralölraffinerie Oberrhein and Industriepark Hoechst as well as the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) are represented in the monitoring group, which has a coordinating function.