Electro fuels as an alternative to electrification – an energetic and economic analysis

Abstract

With one third of greenhouse gas emissions and 40% of the CO₂ emissions, road transport is responsible for the largest portion of climate gases of all energy sectors in Switzerland. These emissions have actually even slightly increased since 1990, while they decreased for example in the heat production sector. Private motorized road traffic in Switzerland, consisting of 4.5 Mio passenger cars and 0.4 Mio utility vehicles, performed a mileage of approximately 91.0 billion pkm (57.3 billion vehicle-km) and 17.2 billion tkm (6.4 billion vehicle-km), consuming 3.4 billion liters of gasoline and 3.2 billion liters of diesel. Thereby, 16.4 million tons of CO₂ were produced, 10.2 million tons from passenger cars and 1.6 million tons from delivery vehicles and trucks.

As part of the Paris Climate Agreement, Switzerland has set itself the goal of cutting CO₂ emissions to 50% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The reduction is to be made minimally 60% domestically and maximally 40% abroad. If these goals are transferred 1:1 to road traffic, this would mean a reduction in road traffic-related CO₂ emissions by 8.4 million tons. Thereof 5.1 million tons would have to be reduced domestically, which corresponds to a 32% reduction in current road traffic-related CO₂ emissions.