Towards carbon-neutral and clean propulsion in heavy-duty transportation with hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch fuels

Clean transport requires tailored energy carriers. For heavy-duty transportation, synthetic fuels are promising but must fulfil the key challenges of achieving carbon neutrality while reducing air pollution and ensuring scalability through compatibility with existing infrastructure. Here we show that hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch (HyFiT) fuels composed of optimized alkane–alcohol blends simultaneously address these challenges. First, the design of the HyFiT fuel process flexibly closes the carbon cycle by employing biomass or carbon dioxide as feedstock, while being scalable through mature technologies. Second, fuel testing shows that HyFiT fuels comply with global fuel standards. Material compatibility is demonstrated for two standard sealing materials, enabling the retrofit of today’s vehicle fleets. Third, vehicle testing shows that HyFiT fuels substantially reduce combustion-induced particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Fourth, a well-to-wheel life cycle assessment finds that HyFiT fuels enable the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, showing simultaneously a favourable profile in other environmental parameters. HyFiT fuels can thus complement electrification for heavy-duty transportation. For synthetic fuels to aid in a transition towards cleaner transportation, they must fulfil criteria related to scalability, compatibility with existing infrastructure and environmental impacts. Here the authors show that hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch fuels comprising optimized alkane–alcohol blends are promising candidates when judged by these metrics.