The UK government today announced on the hottest day of the year, a plan to convert the airline industry to using non-fossil fuel alternatives including they say fuels made from sewage and vegetable bases.
However, either they seem to be completely ignoring the obvious need for road, rail and sea vehicles to be able to use synthetic fuels - these do NOT seem to be on the table.
These fuels are now available and we can make them in the UK. Porsche has with Siemens developed a net zero Petrol alternative that can be used in modern and old cars without adjustment and is now in production. Algae based Diesel alternatives can be made and both of thee fuels could be produced in Britain.
Had these truly 'Green' technologies been embraced a few years ago, then the Ukraine war's impact on fuel prices, availability and inflation / cost of living would not be as serious as they are today.
We have the ability to produce these fuels and distribute them through the existing fuel station network, not have all the issues of the ridiculous alternative battery vehicles, which only have a use in cities.
The focus by those in charge seems sadly to be on the wrong end of the telescope, forcing the ceasing of the sale (but not the manufacture) of Petrol and Diesel vehicles by 2030, whilst apparently failing to recognise the their pet alternative of battery vehicles are unworkable. This 2030 date is an EU directive and as the UK is no longer in the EU, this can and should be dumped.
The reasons for the eventual failure of the battery vehicle lobby include, firstly that the electric vehicle manufacturers haven't even agreed on a universal charging plug format before they embarked on production - a schoolboy error of epic proportions perhaps? Its not rocket science. Its a fundamental error.
Recently, a Tesla driver stopped at the motorway services and could not get on a charger for 30 minutes, when he did get charged he had overstayed his 2 hours on the services site and got fined. Or you might turn up at a charging point, but find the wrong plug or the right machine, but not working.
Worse still is the vehicle's operational range problems, hitch up a caravan and try and drive around hilly mid Wales in your EV and you'd be lucky to get a third of the projected range.
The biggest problem is that the resources for batteries are finite - China holds the monopoly on battery components and manufacturing, the battery car is in its infancy and it gets worse.
A petrol or diesel car with the spares backup can last 20 years, engines are very much cleaner than they ever were too. An electric car lasts about 6-7 years and is half as expensive to buy again - to get the same 20 year vehicle lifespan you have to buy 3 of them and increase the CO2 created in their making by 3 plus times v the old ICE engine alternative.
The battery car is in most cases just scrap when the battery goes.
The answer is patently clear.
For the airline industry we managed ok during coined and the skies were a cleaner place.
Most commercial aviation is luxury travel abroad, why not just stop it?
Why fly three or four half empty airlines to the same place the same day?
Road transport is often essential, for carers, workers and professionals who need to use the roads. Plus our on-line parcels need shipping around. Not to mention our agriculture industry and food deliveries.
Battery vehicles are never going to be in place by 2030, so lets abandon this stupid idea now and create a really sustainable alternative net zero synthetic fuels situation.
The motorist has been a cash cow for decades. We all know it. The classic vehicle industry is worth £18 Billion a year to the Government alone. If it kills this golden goose for one, then it is like losing a year's funding for the MOD being paid in to the Treasury in one hit. This unaffordable.
Germany has now allowed the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles that 'can use other fuels' (other than fossil Petrol or Diesel) - very cleverly, they have sidestepped the EU's 2030 directive - well done Porsche and Siemens - this gives us all hope. Sadly our people in charge have not seen this.
It is also now time to remove the hated and damaging E10 fuel and go back to straight unleaded fuel - the E10 can in some cars mean that the car covers 100 miles LESS than on straight unleaded fuel per tankful. This lunacy is waved through because the E10 is 'Green' partly produced from Bio Alcohol from Sugar Beet or Maize.
With the Ukraine war, these additives to Petrol and Bio Diesel (vegetable oils) will have to stop. These additives although 'Green' cost the vehicle performance, range and add to the fuel cost. It is high time these 'Green' additions were dropped and the straight fuels reinstated.
The synthetic fuels for non aviation transport are the future and are sustainable and virtually infinite, unlike the electric counterparts.
