Synthetic fuels can help drive forward the defossilization of the transport sector. These fuels are a particularly promising option for high transport volumes or for long distances, for example in aviation and shipping or to some extent in heavy goods transport.

In the future, fuels produced on the basis of electricity from renewable energies should make a decisive contribution to improving the CO2 balance and achieving climate neutrality in the transport sector. Research is therefore focusing on the interface between the energy and transport sectors.

As part of the BMWK's (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz) Energy Transition in Transport (Energiewende im Verkehr) research initiative, a total of 16 industry-led R&D projects significantly advanced the development of synthetic fuels for air, sea and road transport between 2018 and 2023. The projects looked at a variety of different fuels, production processes and applications. The task of the "Begleitforschung Energiewende im Verkehr" (BEniVer), as one of the 16 EiV projects, was to make the project results of the technical research projects of the funding initiative comparable on the basis of independent scientific analyses. Standardized framework assumptions and methodological guidelines were developed for this purpose.

The results of the research projects were summarized in an overall assessment and served as the basis for technical, economic and ecological evaluations. The technology-oriented bottom-up analyses were based on the latest research. These were combined with system-oriented top-down analyses of the energy and transport system as well as possible transformation paths on the way to climate neutrality. Further analyses on acceptance and market introduction also address the social dimensions and effects of the introduction of electricity-based fuels.

Conclusions were drawn on the basis of the holistic analyses. As a result of the many years of interdisciplinary support for the EiV research projects, the roadmap for electricity-based fuels is a guideline with options for action for the research, development, production and market launch of these fuels.