From circular economy to Dakar: this is the new advanced biofuel

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While the automotive sector is moving towards full electrification, there are other alternatives that can reduce or neutralize
fleet emissions. This is the case of synthetic fuels and biofuels, which are already in the production phase and which are tested in the worst possible scenarios.

The 2023 Dakar Rally will be the most demanding test bed for the new biofuel that should contribute to the decarbonisation of everyday mobility. This renewable fuel is made this renewable fuel developed in the
Repsol Technology LaboratoryRepsol’s innovation center, with the aim of helping Isidre Esteve and his Toyota Hilux T1+ to be competitive in the race and significantly reduce their environmental footprint.

The history of this project with Isidre Esteve begins in 2021. First, a low-emission fuel with 50% non-fossil origin was tested. That first experience was limited to the prologue and
the first stage of the Morocco Rally, as well as the opening special of the Dakar Rally, as an exploration of the possibilities of this technology. Given the success of that trial, Repsol Technology Lab scientists continued to work hard to go one step further and create an advanced biofuel made up of 75% renewable materials, especially for the Dakar Rally.

Dolores Cardenas, Head of Product Design at Repsol Technology Lab, describes what the Repsol Toyota Rally Team’s biofuel looks like: “Advanced biofuels are fuels produced from organic waste from various sources. For example, fatty residues, such as used cooking oils, agroforestry residues, the organic fraction of municipal waste. Through
different transformation processes, we arrive at fuels with which we can reduce our ecological footprint by approximately 90% compared to conventional fuels. Moreover, these fuels are supported by the circular economy.”

According to
Spanish Association of Petroleum Product Operators (AOP) “From airplanes to tractors, via ships, private vehicles or trucks, the transport of people and goods will continue to require liquid fuels as the main source of energy for a long time to come.”

In this way, the target of reducing the emission intensity of products produced in refineries by 80% could be established. This solution not only uses an already existing infrastructure network (tanking, logistics and distribution systems…), but can also be used in the vehicles already on our roads and will represent a huge opportunity for the industrial development of Spain .

The
synthetic fuels They are made from hydrogen and CO2 from the atmosphere. Electricity from renewable sources is used for the preparation and the oxygen and hydrogen are separated from the water by means of electrolysis, resulting in renewable hydrogen. Energy companies and car manufacturers such as Porsche, Audi or Mazda defend this alternative. According to his calculations, the emissions of a thermal car can be reduced by up to 90% during operation, while avoiding the pollution caused by the production of a new vehicle and its battery.

Concerning the
ecofuels, are liquid fuels that are neutral or have low CO2 emissions, produced from municipal, agricultural or forest waste, from plastic to waste oil. They are not made with petroleum.

For the first time,
Isidre Esteve and his co-pilot
Txema Villalobos During the 14 stages and the prologue of the Dakar Rally, they will have around 6,000 liters of this advanced biofuel, with which they have already participated from start to finish in 2022 in the rallies in Morocco and Andalusia with extraordinary results: an overall seventh place – his best finish in a World Rally-Raid event – ​​a Top 10 respectively.

“From the first moment, when we worked with the Toyota engineers on the engine mapping, because we need a good mapping to exploit the full potential of the new biofuel, it was really surprising. We started to get better results than those obtained with the gasoline used until now. And that was what prompted us
take this biofuel to the Dakar 2023», explains the pilot from Ilerden.

«The project was not born with the exclusive aim of using the new biofuel for the competition, but we use the competition
as the best test bench to develop it, because it is a fuel that will reach our daily life, our mobility, with the aim of decarbonising it,” he adds.

Repsol, which is working on similar initiatives
in the MotoGP races or French Formula 4, will open Spain’s first advanced biofuel plant in Cartagena in the first half of 2023, where it is expected to produce 250,000 tons per year. Isidre Esteve’s contribution will therefore be particularly decisive for the future of this type of product.

Source: La Verdad

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