Yes to e-fuels, no to petrol and diesel
On 28 March 2023, the European Council approved the new regulation which confirms the standards on CO2 emissions envisaged by the Fit for 55 programme, which provides for the reduction of CO2 emissions in the European Union in 3 step: the first envisages a 15% cut in emissions by 2025, the second a 55% cut for cars and vans (50% in this case) produced between 2030 and 2034, while the third step envisages zero CO2 emissions from 2035. Until now, the request to zero CO2 emissions went hand in hand with the spread of electric cars, but the latest version of the text approved the possibility of still having internal combustion engines for sale as long as they use exclusively synthetic fuels which do not weigh climatically in terms of emissions. This is great news, especially for a company like Porsche which has just invested large sums to create an e-fuel production center in Chile; it will be thanks to these synthetic fuels that many classic cars will be able to continue to exist and circulate freely in the European Union.
--> Biofuels, very popular in South America but never particularly used in the old continent, remain outside this decision; the Council did not consider biofuels CO2-neutral enough to approve them as permitted fuels, but there will be time to reverse the decision in the next few years – even if we consider it a bit unlikely that this will happen, despite Italy being among the major supporters of this alternative.
Minister Salvini is optimistic and declares:
“The Commission's ideological approach has limited itself to opening up to e-fuels, but we are confident that the experts will also be able to demonstrate the full sustainability of biofuels. Next year, there will be a new Parliament and a new Commission: the game is not over".
What is certain is that the endothermic engine will be able to survive even after 2035, it will simply become a luxury for the few who will still be able to afford to feed and maintain it.