Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reforming of natural gas.
Common ways for refining synthetic fuels include the Fischer–Tropsch conversion, methanol to gasoline conversion, or direct coal liquefaction.
Biogasoline is a type of synthetic gasoline produced from biomass such as algae and plants. Like traditionally petroleum-derived gasoline, biogasoline is made up of hydrocarbons with 6 (hexane) to 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule, and can be directly used in conventional internal combustion engines. However, unlike traditional gasoline, which are fractionally distilled from crude oil and thus are non-renewable fossil fuels, biogasolines are renewable biofuels made from algal materials, energy crops such as beets and sugarcane, and other cellulosic residues traditionally regarded to as agricultural waste.
Biofuels most often apply to the product of compounded biomass substance called feedstocks. Biomass is abstract in nature and used to produce gasoline that generates net-zero carbon emissions through a process called gasification. There are multi-various methods through which this fuel can be produced; however, determining the optimal gasification route through which to apply a particular feedstock or biomass relies on experimentation and trial and error.
A motor fuel is a fuel that is used to provide power to the engine (motor) of vehicles — typically a heat engine that produces thermal energy via oxidative combustion of liquid or gaseous fuel and then converts the heat into mechanical energy through reciprocating pistons or gas turbines.
Currently, the majority of motor vehicles, powerboats and light aircraft worldwide are propelled by internal combustion engines powered by petroleum-based hydrocarbon fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel or autogas, while larger ships and aircraft use marine diesel oil and kerosene to power gas/steam turbine, turboprop and jet engines. Other fuel types include ethanol, biodiesel, biogasoline, propane, compressed natural gas (CNG) and hydrogen (either using fuel cells or hydrogen combustion). There are also cars that use a hybrid drivetrain of different power sources. The use of synthetic alternative fuels (especially renewable biofuels) is increasing, especially in Europe, as well as increasing mass adoption of battery electric vehicles (which are powered by battery-stored electricity instead of fuels).
The Allied oil campaign of World War II was an aerial bombing campaign conducted by the RAF and the USAAF against facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication (POL) products. It formed part of the immense Allied strategic bombing effort during the war. The targets in Germany and in Axis-controlled Europe included refineries, synthetic-fuel factories, storage depots and other POL-infrastructure.
Before the war, Britain had identified Germany's reliance on oil and oil products for its war machine, and the strategic bombing started with RAF attacks on Germany in 1940. After the US entered the war (December 1941), it carried out daytime "precision bombing" attacks – such as Operation Tidal Wave against refineries in Romania in 1943. The last major strategic raid of the European theater of the war targeted a refinery in Norway in April 1945.
Gas to liquids (GTL) is a refinery process to convert natural gas or other gaseous hydrocarbons into longer-chain hydrocarbons, such as gasoline or diesel fuel. Methane-rich gases are converted into liquid synthetic fuels. Two general strategies exist: (i) direct partial combustion of methane to methanol and (ii) Fischer–Tropsch-like processes that convert carbon monoxide and hydrogen into hydrocarbons. Strategy ii is followed by diverse methods to convert the hydrogen-carbon monoxide mixtures to liquids. Direct partial combustion has been demonstrated in nature but not replicated commercially. Technologies reliant on partial combustion have been commercialized mainly in regions where natural gas is inexpensive.
The motivation for GTL is to produce liquid fuels, which are more readily transported than methane. Methane must be cooled below its critical temperature of −82.3 °C in order to be liquified under pressure. Because of the associated cryogenic apparatus, LNG tankers are used for transport. Methanol is a conveniently handled combustible liquid, but its energy density is half of that of gasoline.
Carbon-neutral fuel is fuel which produces no net-greenhouse gas emissions or carbon footprint. In practice, this usually means fuels that are made using carbon dioxide (CO2) as a feedstock. Proposed carbon-neutral fuels can broadly be grouped into synthetic fuels, which are made by chemically hydrogenating carbon dioxide, and biofuels, which are produced using natural CO2-consuming processes like photosynthesis.
The carbon dioxide used to make synthetic fuels may be directly captured from the air, recycled from power plant flue exhaust gas or derived from carbonic acid in seawater. Common examples of synthetic fuels include ammonia and methane, although more complex hydrocarbons such as gasoline and jet fuel have also been successfully synthesized artificially. In addition to being carbon neutral, such renewable fuels can alleviate the costs and dependency issues of imported fossil fuels without requiring either electrification of the vehicle fleet or conversion to hydrogen or other fuels, enabling continued compatible and affordable vehicles. In order to be truly carbon-neutral, any energy required for the process must be itself be carbon-neutral or emissions-free, like renewable energy or nuclear energy.
Hydrocarbon fuel is fuel that consists mostly of hydrocarbons. It may refer to:
Shale oil is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale rock fragments by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting oil can be used immediately as a fuel or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock specifications by adding hydrogen and removing impurities such as sulfur and nitrogen. The refined products can be used for the same purposes as those derived from crude oil.
The term "shale oil" is also used for crude oil produced from shales of other unconventional, very low permeability formations. However, to reduce the risk of confusion of shale oil produced from oil shale with crude oil in oil-bearing shales, the term "tight oil" is preferred for the latter. The International Energy Agency recommends to use the term "light tight oil" and World Energy Resources 2013 report by the World Energy Council uses the term "tight oil" for crude oil in oil-bearing shales.