Sustainable Organic Fuels For Transport (soft) – A Concept For Compati

Abstract: Carbon-neutral liquid fuels offer the

possibility of decarbonising transport without the

paradigm shifts required by electrification of the

vehicle fleet or conversion to a hydrogen economy.

The paper describes the SOFT concept (Sustainable

Organic Fuels for Transport) in which carbon-neutral

liquid fuels provide a route to avoiding the climate

change and energy security concerns which

currently challenge the transport sector. The lowcarbon-

number alcohols, and, where necessary,

synthetic diesel and kerosene, offer the prospect of

continued high levels of affordable mobility through

the gradual evolution of the vehicle fleet and fuel

distribution infrastructure to one which is broadly

compatible with that which pervades today. Vehicle

technology to support this transition is described.

The production of liquid fuels from air and water are

reviewed in which fully-closed carbon cycles are

theoretically possible with the development of largescale

renewable energy generation and CO2 capture

from the atmosphere. To expedite air capture,

developments in CO2 concentration and release

based on bipolar membrane electrodialysis are

described and initial results from a laboratory-scale

device are reported.