Economic and Environmental Barriers of CO₂-Based Fischer-Tropsch Electro-Diesel

Electro-fuels are seen as a promising alternative to curb carbon emissions in the transport sector due to their appealing properties, similar to those of their fossil counterparts, allowing them to use current infrastructure and state-of-the-art automotive technologies. However, their broad implications beyond climate change remain unclear as previous studies mainly focused on analyzing their carbon footprint. To fill this gap, here, we evaluated the environmental and economic impact of Fischer-Tropsch electro-diesel (FT e-diesel) synthesized from electrolytic H₂ and captured CO₂. We consider various power (wind, solar, nuclear, or the current mix) and carbon sources (capture from the air (DAC) or a coal power plant) while covering a range of impacts on human health, ecosystems, and resources. Applying process simulation and life cycle assessment (LCA), we found that producing e-diesel from wind and nuclear H₂ combined with DAC CO₂ could reduce the carbon footprint relative to fossil diesel, leading to burden-shifting in human health and ecosystems. Also, it would incur prohibitive costs, even when considering externalities (i.e., indirect costs of environmental impacts). Overall, this work highlights the need to embrace environmental impacts beyond climate change in the analysis of alternative fuels and raises concerns about the environmental appeal of electro-fuels.