Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2023 - 32

SAE INTERNATIONAL
Q&
A
Alternative fuels overshadowed in EV era
" I'm a very big believer in alternative fuels, " SAE Fellow
Andrea Strzelec, Ph.D., told former SAE Update editor Patrick
Ponticel. " I see that in the push towards all things electric, this
is a huge area of oversight from a research funding standpoint.
Regardless of what the future fleet looks like - and I
think that the projections on that are constantly changing, as
just [recently] the UK government backed off their ICE bans
- there is an existing legacy fleet that will continue to run on
liquid fuels for decades to come. "
Strzelec, who recently was hired at USCAR (United States
Council for Automotive Research) as senior
research scientist, has been an SAE
member since 2003 and currently serves
as Chair of the Energy & Propulsion
Activity (formerly Powertrain, Fuels &
Lubricants Activity) for SAE. Following is
a portion of the interview featured in the
November issue of SAE's member publication
Update (www.sae.org/update/).
In what ways are you involved in
hydrogen and alt fuels?
I have been working on alternative fuels
and their effects on emissions for nearly
20 years. Starting with my PhD work at
UW-Madison and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, which was focused on the
effects of biodiesel on emissions, with a
focus on particulate matter and its reactivity
in diesel particulate filter (DPF)
regeneration. Additionally, I have studied
the impact on emissions of fuels
such as biodiesel, ethanol (in GDI particulate)
and their blends. I'm just about
to start a project that looks at the emissions
from renewable diesel (RD) and
RD/biodiesel blends.
What should people know about the
potential of alt fuels?
I'm very positive on fuels that don't add
to the carbon inventory - things like biofuels,
renewable fuels, e-fuels and other
low-carbon fuels. These are all dense energy
carriers similar to their petroleumbased
counterparts that are often directly
compatible (fungible) with the existing
fuel distribution infrastructure (i.e., renewable
diesel). It is my opinion that these
kinds of fuels, paired with hybrid vehicles
(full, not plug-in) would allow the fastest
reduction of CO2
emissions from the vehicle
fleet - both new and existing.
32 December 2023
One major thing that I think often gets lost in the discussion
of the 'electric vehicle future' is the existing fleet - alternative
fuels such as the ones listed above help them, too. They can
be both forwards and backwards compatible.
Now, people might say: Why would you make e-fuels rather
than use the (renewable) electricity directly? Isn't that
more efficient? Perhaps. However, the energy density (and
resulting mileage per tank / equivalent) is often greater with
the e-fuels, they can be handled and distributed like conventional
fuels, and this compatibility with the existing infrastructure
is a huge benefit. I can point
to what Porsche is doing with e-fuels
as a potential model for other companies
to follow.
Are alt fuels on the right course at the
right pace by the various parties involved?
Trying to find a single 'silver bullet' solution
is a great example of what I think we
are doing wrong. I admire and wholeheartedly
agree with the idea of reducing
the amount of new CO2
into the atmoSAE
Fellow
Andrea Strzelec, Ph.D.
and senior research
scientist at USCAR.
" I'm a very big believer
in alternative fuels. In
the push towards all
things electric, this is a
huge area of oversight
from a research funding
standpoint. "
sphere - I just think that the singular
focus on EVs is the wrong way to accomplish
it. I also think that approach is not
accessible to everyone and creates some
significant equity discrepancies.
I have been a strong proponent of the
'eclectic' approach (credit to SAE Fellow
Dr. Kelly Senecal), and my analysis shows
that the fastest way to achieve this goal
is mass adoption of full hybrids and renewable/bio/e-fuels.
This path is inclusive
to the existing legacy fleet as well as
new vehicles, and greatly reduces the
concerns surrounding battery materials,
range anxiety and [accessibility].
For this reason, and because I'm generally
against putting all the eggs in just
one basket, when the basket isn't fully
developed yet... I'm really disappointed
that funding agencies like DOE have
stopped investment in the fuels area.
There has been some absolutely amazing
work out of the U.S. DOE BETO
(bioenergy technologies office) that is
very promising for true gasoline and
diesel replacement fuels - but political
winds have shifted that work to only
focus on SAFs (sustainable aviation fuels)
- which is a great loss to the automotive
sector.
Patrick Ponticel
TRUCK & OFF-HIGHWAY ENGINEERING
https://www.sae.org/update/
Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Truck & Off-Highway Engineering - December 2023
