Geological hydrogen as e-fuel feedstock: the Belgian advantage

Power-to-Liquid e-fuels—synthetic petrol, diesel and kerosene produced by combining green hydrogen with captured CO₂—are central to the EU’s strategy for decarbonising hard-to-electrify sectors, including aviation and long-haul road freight. RED III Article 27 and ReFuelEU Aviation mandate rising shares of sustainable fuels from 2025 onward, with stepped targets reaching 6 per cent SAF by 2030 and 70 per cent by 2050. Yet the hydrogen required to synthesise those fuels remains expensive and supply-constrained; electrolysers in Belgium and neighbouring regions lag behind demand projections, and renewable-electricity curtailment needed to produce truly ‘green’ H₂ is still intermittent.

Enter natural hydrogen. The BE.Hydrogen programme—steered by Belspo, the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, and championed by Walloon energy minister Philippe Crucke—has confirmed preliminary flows of white hydrogen in the Hercynian basement beneath Belgium’s historic coal basins. Unlike electrolytic H₂, geological hydrogen emerges with minimal energy input and a near-zero carbon intensity, provided it is captured and transported correctly. If proven at commercial scale, this indigenous resource could supply Fischer-Tropsch or methanol-to-gasoline units at lower cost and faster timelines than building gigawatt-scale electrolyser parks, giving Belgian and Greater Region refiners a compliance edge under the CBAM carbon border adjustment mechanism that penalises high-carbon imports from 2026.

RED III compliance calendars and the 2035 ICE cliff-edge

Compliance and marketing directors now face two converging deadlines. First, RED III’s transport sub-quota for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs)—essentially e-fuels and electrolytic hydrogen—rises from 1 per cent in 2028 to 5.5 per cent by 2030, with penalties for shortfalls. Second, the EU’s 2035 ban on new internal-combustion passenger cars creates a legacy-fleet transition window during which synthetic drop-in fuels remain the only path to continued use of existing vehicles. Power-to-Liquid e-diesel and e-petrol, because they are chemically identical to fossil equivalents, require no new infrastructure and qualify for full RFNBO credit if the hydrogen is certified renewable or ultra-low-carbon.

Belgian natural hydrogen, if GSB (the Geological Survey of Belgium) classifications confirm sub-0.5 kg CO₂e per kg H₂, would meet the RED III threshold with room to spare. A single mid-scale PtL plant in the Greater Region—drawing white hydrogen from Hercynian reservoirs, pairing it with biogenic CO₂ from nearby biorefineries or direct-air-capture pilots, and producing 50,000 tonnes per year of synthetic diesel—could simultaneously fulfil national RFNBO quotas, supply fleet operators seeking 2035-compliant fuels, and generate tradeable certificates under the EU ETS and FuelEU Maritime if the output is channelled to shipping bunkers.

Hybrid powertrains and the medium-term e-fuel market

Automotive developments reinforce the case for e-fuel readiness. At Auto China 2026, Horse Powertrain demonstrated its X-Range C15 direct-drive hybrid system, designed to retrofit pure battery-electric platforms with a compact range-extender engine. While the unit itself burns conventional petrol, its 15-kilowatt generator module is explicitly engineered to accept advanced biofuels and synthetic e-petrol, extending zero-local-emission range by over 200 kilometres in WLTC cycles. This architecture signals an interim market for e-fuels beyond aviation and freight: premium-segment BEVs with range anxiety can be hybridised post-production, creating domestic demand for certified PtL petrol that Belgian hydrogen-to-liquids projects could profitably serve through 2030–2035 and into the legacy-fleet era beyond.

Sources

• Horse Powertrain Reveals X-Range C15 Direct Drive Powertrain for Hybridizing BEV Platforms – Las Vegas Sun News
• Solving the ‘Hybridization’ Challenge of Pure EV Platforms, Horse Powertrain Provides Solution at Auto China 2026 – Gasgoo
• Horse Powertrain unveils hybrid system for BEV platforms – electrive.com

Featured image via Unsplash.