While the automotive world fixates on the race for electric vehicles and the high-profile endeavors into synthetic eFuels, a quieter, arguably more immediate revolution is brewing in the UK. Porsche’s multi-million-dollar plant in Chile, turning wind and water into carbon-neutral gasoline, grabs headlines for its futuristic appeal.
Yet, a company named Coryton is demonstrating that we might not need to wait for science fiction to become reality to save the internal combustion engine. They are proving that by leveraging existing organic waste, they can create a fuel that is not just carbon-neutral, but genuinely “engine-kind,” especially for our cherished classics and performance machines.
The molecular magic: How waste becomes “Supergasoline”
At its heart, Coryton’s breakthrough with the “Sustain” fuels lies in its feedstock: what it is made from. This is not your granddad’s ethanol from corn. This is a “second-generation” biofuel, meticulously crafted from agricultural waste, forestry by-products, and other non-food biomass. Think of the straw left after a wheat harvest or wood chips from sustainable forestry – materials that would otherwise decompose, releasing their stored carbon into the atmosphere as methane.
The process is a marvel of chemical engineering, often referred to as “Waste-to-Liquid.” It begins by breaking down this organic matter through thermochemical processes like gasification or fermentation, yielding fundamental bio-alcohols. From there, the real magic happens: these smaller alcohol molecules are subjected to a special catalyst in an “Alcohol-to-Gasoline” (AtG) process. This catalyst acts like a molecular Lego builder, stringing the simple alcohol molecules together into the longer hydrocarbon chains that are chemically identical to the complex mixture we call 98-octane petrol.
Crucially, this differs significantly from Porsche’s eFuel. Porsche’s method is a “Power-to-Liquid” process – using vast amounts of renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and then combining that hydrogen with captured CO2 from the atmosphere. While elegant, it is energy-intensive and requires massive infrastructure for direct air capture. Coryton, on the other hand, utilizes the solar energy already stored in plant waste. This makes their process, for now, a more immediately scalable and energy-efficient way to produce clean-burning fuel.
Why enthusiasts should care: The “Drop-In” reality for your ride
For anyone who cherishes their internal combustion engine, especially classic car owners, the term “drop-in” fuel often comes with a healthy dose of skepticism. And for good reason. Standard pump gas, particularly E10 (containing up to 10% ethanol), has been a menace to vintage vehicles. Ethanol is hygroscopic, meaning it greedily absorbs water from the air, which leads to phase separation in your fuel tank and, more critically, it corrodes the rubber seals, plastic lines, and brass components that were not designed for it. The result: degraded fuel systems, leaks, and costly repairs.
This is where Coryton’s breakthrough shines for the enthusiast. Their “Sustain” line is specifically formulated to be non-oxygenated. The final, refined fuel contains absolutely no ethanol. This is a game-changer. It means you can pour Coryton’s fuel into your prized vintage Ferrari, your meticulously restored muscle car, or your weekend track weapon without fear. It will not degrade your fuel lines, corrode your carburetor jets, or attract water that can ruin an engine left in storage. Owners can confidently fill up and leave their cars for months without the “fuel going bad”, a common headache with modern pump gas.
Beyond preservation, there is performance. Coryton meticulously tunes the Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) during production. This ensures the fuel meets, or often exceeds, the demands of high-compression, high-performance engines, preventing damaging “knock” and allowing engines to perform as their manufacturers intended. Whether on the open road or a demanding track day, this fuel is engineered for optimal combustion and reliability.
The carbon math: Emissions and the closed loop
When we talk about “sustainable fuel,” the question of emissions is paramount. If you stand behind a car burning Coryton’s Sustain fuel, you will still see and smell exhaust. It’s an internal combustion engine, after all, so it still produces CO2, NOx, and fine particulates. The true “breakthrough” here, however, lies in the lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction.
The carbon in Coryton’s fuel comes from plants that absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere as they grew. When the fuel is burned, that carbon is released back into the atmosphere, creating a “closed carbon loop.” This is fundamentally different from fossil fuels, which release ancient, buried carbon into the atmosphere, adding to the overall CO2 burden. Coryton claims a lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction of more than 80% compared to traditional fossil fuels, factoring in all stages from harvesting the waste to refining and transport.
An added benefit of this lab-refined fuel is its purity. Unlike crude oil, which contains natural impurities like sulfur and benzene, Coryton’s fuels are engineered to be free of these contaminants. This translates to a “cleaner burn,” which can extend the life of catalytic converters in modern vehicles and potentially reduce harmful tailpipe emissions even further than current fossil fuels.
The competitive landscape: Two paths to a sustainable roar
Coryton’s approach offers a compelling alternative to the “Power-to-Liquid” synthetic fuels.
- Porsche/HIF Global eFuel: This is the premium, purely synthetic route. It promises truly 100% carbon-neutrality at the tailpipe (if powered by entirely renewable energy) and limitless scalability, constrained only by the availability of renewable electricity, water, and direct air capture technology. It’s a long-term, high-tech vision.
- Coryton SUSTAIN: This is the practical, waste-derived path. It leverages existing biomass resources that would otherwise go to waste (or worse, decompose and release methane). While it boasts an impressive 80%+ GHG reduction, it’s more grounded in current technology and offers an immediate solution for the existing global fleet.
| Feature | Porsche/HIF eFuel | Coryton SUSTAIN | Standard Pump Gas (E10) |
| Origin | Wind + Water + Air | Agricultural Waste | Fossil Crude Oil |
| Complexity | Extremely High (Needs DAC) | Medium (Scalable now) | Low |
| Carbon Neutral? | Theoretically 100% | ~80% to 90% | No (0%) |
| Octane Rating | High (98+) | High (98+) | Variable (95-98) |
| Engine Mods | None | None | Needs mods for classics |
The main barrier to widespread adoption, for now, is cost. While both synthetic and advanced biofuels are significantly more expensive to produce than fossil fuels today, economies of scale and technological advancements are expected to bring prices down, hopefully reaching “fossil parity” in the coming decades.
A multi-fuel future for the passionate driver
The future of motoring is not shaping up to be a simple choice between a battery and a gas pump. Instead, it’s evolving into a diverse ecosystem of energy solutions. Companies like Coryton are proving that the soul-stirring roar of a flat-six, the rumble of a V8, the high-pitch sound of a V12, or the precision of a high-revving four-cylinder does not have to be relegated to history books or become a guilty pleasure.
With Coryton’s waste-based “Supergasoline,” we’re witnessing a tangible, accessible step towards a future where the internal combustion engine can coexist with our environmental goals. It’s a solution that caters to both performance and preservation, ensuring that the passion for driving and the machines that ignite it can continue to thrive for generations to come.
