On 9 March, Members of the Cleantech Friendship Group Lídia Pereira, Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Barry Andrews and Helder Sousa Silva visited the ERA ONE e-fuels production plant of INERATEC just outside Frankfurt, where the company recently announced a partnership with defence heavyweight Rheinmetall to deliver synthetic fuels for military applications.

The plant is a first-of-a-kind facility producing synthetic fuels from green hydrogen and captured CO₂. Built using a modular approach, the technology is designed to be replicated and deployed across multiple locations - enabling distributed production and greater resilience.

Key takeaways from the visit are:

• Green molecules are essential. Electrification alone will not decarbonise sectors like aviation, shipping, and defence. Synthetic fuels will play a key role in these hard-to-abate sectors.
• Costs must come down. As with many first-of-a-kind projects, reducing CAPEX and scaling production will be crucial to unlock broader deployment.
• Energy security is also defence policy. Military operations rely heavily on fuel - with estimates of roughly 40 litres per soldier per day. Reliable access to resilient fuels is therefore a strategic capability.
• Decentralised production strengthens resilience. Smaller production units distributed across Europe can reduce supply risks and improve operational security.

The project - supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) - illustrates how clean technologies can contribute not only to climate goals, but also to Europe's industrial competitiveness and security.

Learn more about INERATEC: https://www.ineratec.de/en

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