Tasmanian e-fuel to power Porsche cars from 2026

Porsche-backed HIF Global today announced it has begun development of a $1bn e-fuel plant based in north-west Tasmania.

Construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2024, with commercial operations slated to start by mid-2026.

According to HIF Asia Pacific CEO, Ignacio Hernandez: “At full operations, the HIF Tasmania facility is expected to produce up to 100 million litres per year of carbon neutral e-fuels, reducing global CO2 emissions by approximately 260,000 tons per year, the equivalent of decarbonising 52,000 cars on the road today.”

The Tasmanian facility will be located approximately 30km south of Burnie in the state’s north-west and have an operating life of at least 40 years.

HIF uses electrolysis to produce green hydrogen, which is then combined with CO2 captured from either the atmosphere or industrial/biogenic sources to obtain a carbon-neutral fuel that is claimed to be able to be used in today’s internal combustion engines with no modifications.

The water used for electrolysis in HIF’s Tasmanian plant will be primarily extracted from biowaste.

Porsche made a $US75m investment in HIF Global earlier in 2022 as a pioneer in the use of e-fuels, using it for the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS launch and to power its 911 Supercup racers.

Porsche sports car boss Frank Walliser has been quoted as saying that e-fuels aren’t intended to delay or prevent electrification, but rather power the enormous existing internal combustion fleet in a carbon-neutral way.

Accordingly to Walliser: “At full scale, we expect a reduction in the CO2 impact of around 85 per cent. In a well-to-wheel consideration, it is on the same level as an electric car.”

In an interview with the Porsche website, CEO Oliver Blume added: “We see ourselves as a pioneer of sustainable mobility with a focus on e-mobility, sensibly supplemented by e-fuels.

“Looking ahead, we think it is realistic to expect this price to drop below a level of $US2/litre.”