Joint Workshop of the IEA Technology Collaboration Programs
Clean & Efficient Combustion
with Advanced Motor Fuels (AMF)
November 6, 2019, Montreux, Switzerland
The joint workshop provided a unique platform to discuss challenges, opportunities and requirements of future
combustion systems and appropriate fuels.
• What role will low emission ICEs play in the future transport
system?
• How can the ICE complement the electrification trend?
• Which are the most promising ICE technologies and fuels?
More than 90 workshop participants, including internationally recognized experts from both TCPs as well as management and R&D representatives from industry, regulatory agencies and other key stakeholders, convened for a full day of plenary sessions and smaller breakout groups to discuss innovative combustion systems using advanced fuels for road transport, shipping, aviation, off road machinery and power generation.
Several areas of possible new collaborations between experts of both TCPs and industry were
identified and will now be explored within the TCPs strategic planning processes.
The morning session focused on low
emission propulsion systems with conventional and drop-in fuels., addressing combustion systems (ICE, Gas Turbine) fueled with commercially available fuels, i.e. fossil fuels
(gasoline, diesel), blended fuels (E xx or D xx) or ethanol, bio-diesel etc. Participants agreed that advanced combustion systems fueled with conventional or drop-in fuels have the potential to
fulfil future low-emission standards (NOx, HC, CO, Soot, Aerosols) and reduced CO2-emission requirements. They identified promising fuels and for a broad range of boundary
conditions and described which advances in propulsion system design and optimization could enable vehicle operation in compliance with stringent future requirements.
The afternoon session addressed novel fuels for advanced engine concepts, targeting the decarbonization of
the energy system. Within the wide range of novel fuels under exploration, several are based on hydrogen (H2), which can be generated with electricity from renewable sources (electro
fuels). In different steps hydrogen can then be transformed to methane, methanol, DME, OME or even higher alcohols (ethanol) or higher hydrocarbons (gasoline, diesel). Novel fuels can be
generated from different sources of biomass or waste, too. Workshop participants agreed that to use novel fuels in a clean and efficient way, combustion systems must be adapted and developed
further. Discussions centered around the requirements fuels impose on internal combustion engines and vice versa, aiming to identify both novel highly efficient and nearly zero emission engine
concepts as well as suitable fuels for these applications.