Science & technology | Green energy

Sucking a carbon-neutral fuel out of thin air

To power future cars and planes

 A Porsche 911 Turbo
Image: Eyevine

When in March the European Union approved a law requiring all new cars to have zero carbon emissions from 2035, Germany managed to wangle an exemption for vehicles running on “e-fuels”. Some saw it as a charter for producers to continue flogging internal-combustion engined cars to petrol-heads. While it does, indeed, mean some petrol-powered sports cars are likely to remain in production in the future, the hope is they can be powered without overheating the planet.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Making petrol from thin air”

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