Mining and construction equipment major Liebherr says it has joined the eFuel Alliance eV effective June 1, 2021. The initiative, founded in 2020, is committed to the development and promotion of the worldwide production of synthetic fuels from renewable energies and their application in many areas. As the first representative from the off-highway sector, Liebherr, together with more than 135 companies and associations, says it is “pursuing the goal of promoting the production and broad acceptance of eFuels as an alternative fuel in order to make a joint contribution to climate protection. Liebherr’s membership demonstrates the Group’s technology-open and future-oriented approach to research, development and promotion of alternative drive concepts.”
According to the EU’s most recent climate protection programme from December 2020, the EU’s internal greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. Wherever vehicles or machines are used, the question of efficient and climate-neutral drives is currently being raised. Sustainable fuels are playing an increasingly important role, including eFuels, which are produced on the basis of electricity from renewable energy sources, water and carbon dioxide and can already be used in conjunction with existing combustion engines. The eFuel Alliance is working for greater acceptance and promotion of climate-neutral and thus promising synthetic fuels.
The construction and mining industries, and therefore Liebherr, are faced with the challenge of how mobile machinery and heavy-duty machines can be powered in the future in order to guarantee a contribution to achieving the EU climate targets. The enormous range of applications areas and fields of use of Liebherr construction and mining machinery requires an equally large variance of suitable drives in order to best meet the needs of customers and the environmental demands. Depending on the type and location of use, a number of other alternative concepts are also possible in addition to electric drives in order to sustainably reduce emissions and promote climate neutrality on construction and mining sites in the long term.
Climate-friendly solutions that customers can already use today in conjunction with existing drives play a special role for Liebherr – for example, synthetic fuels that can drive conventional combustion engines in the form of admixtures or as pure fuels. This also includes eFuels that are produced using electricity, water and carbon dioxide (CO2). The electricity is obtained from renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy or hydropower. The CO2 comes directly from the atmosphere or from industrial waste gases.
The eFuel Alliance, with offices in Berlin, Germany, and Brussels, Belgium, took on the task of establishing and promoting these synthetic fuels based on renewable energies as a contribution to climate protection and thus helping them to be used worldwide. In doing so, the eFuel Alliance also aims to bring the advantages and benefits of eFuels to the attention of science, politics, authorities, the public and the media and to introduce eFuels into decision-making processes and debates. Currently, more than 135 companies, institutions, associations and individuals along the entire value chain belong to the association.
