Exxon Mobil and Toyota formed a partnership to test out low-carbon fuels in petrol engines, potentially offering a way for drivers to reduce emissions without upgrading to an electric vehicle.
The fuel blends are made from cleaner feedstocks such as renewable biomass and ethanol and could one day cut greenhouse gas emissions from internal combustion engines by as much as 75% compared with regular fuel, Andrew Madden, Exxon’s vice president for strategy and planning, said in a Wednesday interview, citing initial trial results. The fuels proved compatible with Toyota vehicles, raising the prospect of a drop-in solution that could compete with battery-powered cars in future.
The fuels are “very much at the test phase” and would require government policy support before becoming commercially available, Madden said.
“Having a solution for liquid fuels that we can use in the existing fleet, having it in the kind of policy construct where we allow the market to innovate, is the lowest cost way to decarbonise transportation.”
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