Carbon‑Neutral Fuels for Combustion Engines
Carbon‑neutral fuels aim to eliminate or offset net CO₂ emissions across their full life cycle while retaining the convenience, energy density, and infrastructure compatibility of conventional liquid and gaseous fuels. Unlike battery‑electric powertrains, which eliminate tailpipe CO₂, carbon‑neutral fuels reduce life‑cycle emissions by sourcing carbon from biomass, atmospheric CO₂, or unavoidable industrial streams and powering production with renewable electricity. This article explains what “carbon‑neutral” means in practice, how leading fuel families are produced, their engine and infrastructure implications, sustainability safeguards, cost and scalability outlook, and where these fuels make the most sense. What “Carbon‑Neutral” Actually Means Carbon‑neutral (or net‑zero ) fuels are those whose total greenhouse‑gas (GHG) emissions over the entire life cycle (feedstock extraction, processing, transportation, combustion, and end‑of‑life) are zero or close to zero when properly acc...
