Porsche Leads Innovation With Direct Air Capture Technology (DAC) For Sustainable Synthetic Fuel

A tool called Direct Air Capture that can integrate CO2 into synthetic fuel. (Doc. Porsche AG)]

JAKARTA - Although many automotive manufacturers are focusing on electric vehicles as a future solution, several well-known companies are also trying to develop other alternative technologies. For example, Toyota and BMW are developing hydrogen fuel. This step was also followed by Hyundai recently which will produce hydrogen using biogas derived from food waste treatment.

The same thing but different choices were also made by the well-known automotive manufacturer from Germany, Porsche. In collaboration with HIF Global, MAN Energy Solutions, and Volkswagen Group, Porsche presents Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology, which serves as a means of extracting CO2 into renewable fuel.

Michael Steiner, as a Member of the R&D Executive Board of Porsche AG, said that this tool utilizes CO2 from the atmosphere to make it a sustainable energy product.

"We consider DAC to be a viable technology for the future as it can be used to extract carbon molecules needed for sustainable production of many products. So, we are working to bring this technology to a higher level of maturity," Steiner said in an official statement from the company, Tuesday, September 5.

The process begins by clearing the air from large particles and impurities before going through a filtering material similar to gravel. The caught CO2 is extracted and collected in pure form to be used as raw material in the future.

CO2 extracted from this atmosphere has various potential uses in a sustainable economy. In the long term, this CO2 can be used in non-fossil-based plastic production or as a raw material for synthetic fuels, also known as e-fuels.

Porsche and HIF Global are currently studying how to integrate DAC's CO2 in the production of synthetic fuels at the Haru Oni e-fuels factory in Chile. The project is a major step towards the use of synthetic fuel for carbon-free internal combustion engine (ICE) cars.

Porsche has invested more than $100 million in eFuels development and production, with 75 million USD used to acquire interests at the HIF Global LLC in April 2022.

With this innovative approach, Porsche demonstrates its commitment to exploring various sustainable solutions, both in electric vehicles and through technological development such as DAC.