"Road transport: electrification alone will not be sufficient" (Raphaël Huygue, Ifpen)

"Road transport is at a crossroads: electrification alone will not be sufficient. Reducing dependence on fossil fuels and imports requires the development of low-carbon liquid fuels", said Raphaël Huygue, Director of the Energy Products Results Centre at IFP Énergies nouvelles, on 24/03/2026 in Paris, during a conference on the role of biofuels and e-fuels in transport decarbonisation.

According to IFPEN, electrification of land transport (passenger cars, commercial vehicles and HGVs, excluding long-distance transport) is expected to increase steadily until 2050, unlike aviation and maritime transport, where no electric solutions are currently available.

"Decarbonising transport will require a mix of solutions", it states, referring to HVO, ethanol, biomass and e-fuels (electrofuels), given the different constraints across land, air and maritime transport."The three criteria for effective transport decarbonisation are lifecycle efficiency, cost acceptability and resource availability. Liquid fuels will remain necessary where electrification is insufficient. For aviation and maritime…