IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v17y2024i5p1172-d1349493.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internal Combustion Engines and Carbon-Neutral Fuels: A Perspective on Emission Neutrality in the European Union

Author

Listed:
  • Rafael Estevez

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Laura Aguado-Deblas

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Francisco J. López-Tenllado

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Felipa M. Bautista

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Antonio A. Romero

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

  • Diego Luna

    (Departamento de Química Orgánica, Instituto Químico para la Energía y el Medioambiente (IQUEMA), Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Agroalimentario CeiA3, Edificio Marie Curie, 14014 Córdoba, Spain)

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an intense debate in the European Union (EU) regarding the limits to achieve the European Green Deal, to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent in the world. In this context, there are also different opinions about the role that thermal engines should play. Furhermore, there is no clear proposal regarding the possibilities of the use of green hydrogen in the transport decarbonization process, even though it should be a key element. Thus, there are still no precise guidelines regarding the role of green hydrogen, with it being exclusively used as a raw material to produce E-fuels. This review aims to evaluate the possibilities of applying the different alternative technologies available to successfully complete the process already underway to achieve Climate Neutrality by about 2050, depending on the maturity of the technologies currently available, and those anticipated to be available in the coming decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael Estevez & Laura Aguado-Deblas & Francisco J. López-Tenllado & Felipa M. Bautista & Antonio A. Romero & Diego Luna, 2024. "Internal Combustion Engines and Carbon-Neutral Fuels: A Perspective on Emission Neutrality in the European Union," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-13, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:1172-:d:1349493
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/1172/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/1172/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Annette Bongardt & Francisco Torres, 2022. "The European Green Deal: More than an Exit Strategy to the Pandemic Crisis, a Building Block of a Sustainable European Economic Model," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 170-185, January.
    2. Sven Teske & Stefan Bratzel & Ralf Tellermann & Benjamin Stephan & Mauricio Vargas, 2022. "Net Zero: The Remaining Global Market Volume for Internal Combustion Engines in Light-Duty Vehicles under a 1.5 °C Carbon Budget Trajectory," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-27, October.
    3. Atsonios, Konstantinos & Li, Jun & Inglezakis, Vassilis J., 2023. "Process analysis and comparative assessment of advanced thermochemical pathways for e-kerosene production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    4. Kalghatgi, Gautam, 2018. "Is it really the end of internal combustion engines and petroleum in transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 965-974.
    5. Wojciech Rabiega & Artur Gorzałczyński & Robert Jeszke & Paweł Mzyk & Krystian Szczepański, 2021. "How Long Will Combustion Vehicles Be Used? Polish Transport Sector on the Pathway to Climate Neutrality," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Wang, Buyu & Pamminger, Michael & Wallner, Thomas, 2019. "Impact of fuel and engine operating conditions on efficiency of a heavy duty truck engine running compression ignition mode using energy and exergy analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    7. Tian, Jinfang & Yu, Longguang & Xue, Rui & Zhuang, Shan & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Global low-carbon energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    8. Fuquan Zhao & Kangda Chen & Han Hao & Zongwei Liu, 2020. "Challenges, Potential and Opportunities for Internal Combustion Engines in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Ameen, Mariam & Azizan, Mohammad Tazli & Yusup, Suzana & Ramli, Anita & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Aqsha, Aqsha, 2020. "Process optimization of green diesel selectivity and understanding of reaction intermediates," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1092-1106.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Yongzhi & Yao, Mingfa & Liang, Heping & Liu, Haifeng & Wang, Hu & Zheng, Zunqing & Zhang, Zhi, 2024. "Energy analysis during cold start and warm up period of a methanol engine hybrid power system under several novel energy conversion strategies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zongyu Yue & Haifeng Liu, 2023. "Advanced Research on Internal Combustion Engines and Engine Fuels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-8, August.
    2. Liu, Daojian & Wang, Hu & Liu, Haifeng & Zheng, Zunqing & Zhang, Yan & Yao, Mingfa, 2020. "Identification of factors affecting exergy destruction and engine efficiency of various classes of fuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    3. Kale, Aneesh Vijay & Krishnasamy, Anand, 2023. "Experimental study of homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion in a light-duty diesel engine fueled with isopropanol–gasoline blends," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    4. Tomislav Letnik & Katja Hanžič & Giuseppe Luppino & Matej Mencinger, 2022. "Impact of Logistics Trends on Freight Transport Development in Urban Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Eid Gul & Giorgio Baldinelli & Pietro Bartocci, 2022. "Energy Transition: Renewable Energy-Based Combined Heat and Power Optimization Model for Distributed Communities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-18, September.
    6. Ahmed, Gaffer & Kishore, Nanda, 2024. "Synergistic effects on properties of biofuel and biochar produced through co-feed pyrolysis of Erythrina indica and Azadirachta indica biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    7. Shenhua Liu & Deheng Xiao, 2024. "Can Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone Promote Low-Carbon Urban Development? Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, December.
    8. Dong, Xianjing & Zhang, Xiaojuan & Zhang, Congcong & Bi, Chunyu, 2023. "Building sustainability education for green recovery in the energy resource sector: A cross country analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Djati Wibowo Djamari & Muhammad Idris & Permana Andi Paristiawan & Muhammad Mujtaba Abbas & Olusegun David Samuel & Manzoore Elahi M. Soudagar & Safarudin Gazali Herawan & Davannendran Chandran & Abdu, 2022. "Diesel Spray: Development of Spray in Diesel Engine," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, November.
    10. Mastroeni, Loretta & Mazzoccoli, Alessandro & Vellucci, Pierluigi, 2024. "Wavelet entropy and complexity–entropy curves approach for energy commodity price predictability amid the transition to alternative energy sources," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    11. Ewelina Włodarczyk & Joanna Herczakowska, 2025. "Social Dimension of Poland’s Sustainable Energy Transition as Assessed by Residents of the Silesian Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(6), pages 1-24, March.
    12. Ma, Zetai & Xie, Wenping & Xiang, Hanchun & Zhang, Kun & Yang, Mingyang & Deng, Kangyao, 2023. "Thermodynamic analysis of power recovery of marine diesel engine under high exhaust backpressure by additional electrically driven compressor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    13. Krzysztof Piotr Pawłowski & Gabriela Sołtysiak, 2024. "The Potential Impact of the European Green Deal on Farm Production in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-23, December.
    14. Luo, Pan & Gao, Kai & Hu, Lin & Chen, Bin & Zhang, Yuanjian, 2024. "Adaptive hybrid cooling strategy to mitigate battery thermal runaway considering natural convection in phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    15. Betgeri, Vikram & Bhardwaj, Om Parkash & Pischinger, Stefan, 2023. "Investigation of the drop-in capabilities of a renewable 1-Octanol based E-fuel for heavy-duty engine applications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    16. Gao, Ming, 2023. "The impacts of carbon trading policy on China's low-carbon economy based on county-level perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    17. Tian, Jinfang & Sun, Siyang & Cao, Wei & Bu, Di & Xue, Rui, 2024. "Make every dollar count: The impact of green credit regulation on corporate green investment efficiency," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    18. Cassetti, Gabriele & Boitier, Baptiste & Elia, Alessia & Le Mouël, Pierre & Gargiulo, Maurizio & Zagamé, Paul & Nikas, Alexandros & Koasidis, Konstantinos & Doukas, Haris & Chiodi, Alessandro, 2023. "The interplay among COVID-19 economic recovery, behavioural changes, and the European Green Deal: An energy-economic modelling perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).
    19. Yin, Lianhao & Lundgren, Marcus & Wang, Zhenkan & Stamatoglou, Panagiota & Richter, Mattias & Andersson, Öivind & Tunestål, Per, 2019. "High efficient internal combustion engine using partially premixed combustion with multiple injections," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 516-523.
    20. Casper Boongaling Agaton, 2022. "Will a Geopolitical Conflict Accelerate Energy Transition in Oil-Importing Countries? A Case Study of the Philippines from a Real Options Perspective," Resources, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-17, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:1172-:d:1349493. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.