Experts bet on diesel cars that purify the air against the “energy populism” of the electric

The combustion engine, increasingly refined, efficient and less polluting, must play a fundamental role in the future to help reduce emissions and combat climate change. It is the main thesis of the analysis “Combustion engines against the climate crisis”, distributed by the Spanish Association of Automotive Professionals, which brings together professors, university professors and engineers of the sector [Available in full at this link].

The text, signed by José Ramón Serrano, Raúl Payri, Bernardo Tormos and Alejandro Gómez Vilanova, from the University Institute of Thermal Engines CMT of the Polytechnic of Valencia, ensures that the scandal of manipulation of Dieselgate emissions has generated “a butterfly effect” in the industry, now subject to new regulations “that force to obtain much more efficient and clean internal combustion engines”.

Experts criticize that, as a result of this scandal, “the media and other market players”, as well as politicians, “without a clear scientific basis”, have generated a situation of “energy populism” in which “the death of combustion engines in the medium term” is claimed, replaced by electric ones and their batteries. In this sense, they emphasize that the bans on diesel and gasoline cars, “motivated by a poor diagnosis of the situation, will not help at all either to improve air quality or to mitigate global warming.”

In his opinion, electric technology, imposed as an alternative to conventional models, “is not new, it is not clean and, in general, it is not free of problems.” As they detail, the first big problem is that the electric motor “does not use an energy source, but an energy vector”, since this type of energy cannot be accumulated in large quantities. “Despite the progress observed, batteries are a totally immature technology.”

In this sense, they criticize that the refueling is unacceptably long, its energy density is unacceptably low and its useful life is less than that of the vehicle itself. In addition, “the supply of raw materials for its manufacture “nickel, lithium, cobalt, copper, manganese …) it is a pressing problem because of their exorbitant price (…) they are extracted from countries where human rights are violated (…) and they are fundamentally refined in China, so geopolitical problems are added to the insecurity of supply”.

Pollution of the electric car

Experts also question the cleanliness of electricity generation with the current energy mix, which only includes, worldwide, 10% renewable energy. “Electricity is produced in most cases from non-renewable energy sources (with 60% losses) and has to be transported (with additional losses of another 20%). “It is clear that, with the current energy mix, the alternative of electric motors will not eliminate global _CO2 emissions.”

Against this technology, they defend the traditional diesel and gasoline engines, in which “a revolution is coming”. “Turbochargers, Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) and hybridization are all part of it, dedicated to extracting every Joule of energy.” At the same time, research in catalyst chemistry “offers interesting possibilities for cleaning exhaust gases to incredible limits.”

While they assume that the production of fossil fuels also generates pollutants, they remember that “neither the production of batteries nor the production of electricity are free of _CO2 emissions and pollutants.” Meanwhile, “a modern Euro 6d Temp Diesel engine can clean the air of particulate matter and smog (polluting fog) in heavily polluted countries or during severe pollution episodes.”

They also note, citing research by Andreas Mayer conducted by modifying particulate filters in construction machinery, that “the particulate traps of modern combustion engines reduce the level of PM10 below the atmospheric average value”. At the same time, they could employ synthetic fuels, generated by _CO2 previously captured from the atmosphere, “which would represent an efficient way to remove _CO2.”

“The technology is available and research underway to enable next-generation internal combustion engines to act as vacuum cleaners for pollutants in the air of large cities. This is something that battery-powered electric motors can’t do.” At the same time, they downplay the impact of a hypothetical total conversion of the car fleet into an electric one: “The contribution of transport to global emissions has historically remained at 10% (…) a massive change would mean a potential global reduction of 11% in tonnes of CO equivalent₂ that is emitted, and that in the case that the electric motors charged with battery from 100% clean energy”.

Source: ABC