SYNTHETIC fuels, or 'e-fuels,' as they have been rebranded for the 21st century, have been gradually gaining traction as a topic of conversation in the past couple of years. Part of that is attributable to mankind's general capitalistic, technology-can-solve-anything mindset, but there are two other factors that seem to be more immediate catalysts for interest — and speculative investment — in the e-fuel concept.

The first is the growing realization that battery electric power, which is overwhelmingly in the form of lithium-ion batteries, is not quite the ultimate energy solution everyone thought it would be, particularly when applied to vehicles. The second, which is a bit more positive, is that the production of e-fuel is seen as a complementary technology to direct air capture carbon removal, potentially providing a business case for direct air capture that has so far been completely nonexistent.