The future of fuel?

It’s been two years since the project was first announced, but yesterday an experimental e-fuel plant in Chile pumped the first few litres of its carbon-neutral fuel into the tank of a Porsche 911.

This small, wind turbine-powered plant in the Magallanes Province in the extreme south of Chile’s 2700-mile length is operated by Chilean company Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF) and Porsche says its current investment in the project stands at $100 million (£82 million).

Porsche estimates that when the fuel is in mass production in or around 2026, the price per litre at today’s values would be about $2 (£1.65), perhaps a bit lower if mass production is taken up. But its investment might yet prove controversial, however, not just for the disputed environmental credentials of this e-fuel, but also because of the limited supplies of the stuff.