A LinkedIn post currently doing the rounds presents German eFuel One’s planned plant in Steyerberg, Lower Saxony, as good news for drivers: synthetic petrol for existing cars, from existing filling stations. The original sources behind it tell a more careful story – a project still in development, with a start date that has already moved by a year. It is worth a closer look all the same, because it shows how the Methanol-to-Gasoline route could supply the existing vehicle fleet, and why Switzerland already has the legal tool to turn such volumes into a real demand signal.

What is planned in Steyerberg

According to the project website of German eFuel One (GEF1), the company is developing an industrial Methanol-to-Gasoline (MtG) plant on the existing OXXYNOVA site in Steyerberg. Key figures from the project profile:

  • Capacity: around 57,000 tonnes, or 75 million litres, of synthetic petrol per year, designed to meet the European petrol standard DIN EN 228 (RON 95, E10).
  • Start-up: planned for 2029, according to the current project status.
  • Technology: CAC METHAFUEL®, developed by CAC ENGINEERING GMBH together with TU Bergakademie Freiberg. CAC acts as technology provider and EPC contractor.
  • Status: GEF1 describes itself as being in the project development and financing phase.

The timeline has shifted. When the BMW Group, Lother GmbH and German eFuel One signed a letter of intent at BMW’s Berlin plant on 13 October 2025, the BMW press release still referred to e-fuels as a first fill from 2028. Both GEF1 and CAC now give 2029.

300,000 litres: the technology has been run at scale

The strongest fact in the LinkedIn post comes from a CAC ENGINEERING announcement of 15 September 2026. The large-scale test plant at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, built by CAC in 2009, has now produced 300,000 litres of synthetic petrol as part of the DeCarTrans research project funded by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport. The 300,000th litre came in the seventh test campaign; by mid-2027, 380,000 litres are to be produced for fuel analyses and vehicle tests.

Since November 2025, the plant has been running on RFNBO-compliant eMethanol from the Power-to-X plant of European Energy and Mitsui in Kassø, Denmark. According to CAC, the resulting petrol meets DIN EN 228 as an E10 blend, is registered under REACH and can be blended with fossil petrol without modifications to existing vehicles. CAC’s managing partner Jörg Engelmann says the technology is ready for industrial scale; what is missing now are reliable framework conditions to turn project ideas into investment decisions.

The methanol is imported – and the CO₂ source decides

Steyerberg will not make methanol; it will refine it. GEF1 states that options for both eMethanol and biogenic methanol are being considered, backed by letters of intent and term sheets. Two supply frameworks have been announced:

  • A heads of agreement with HIF Global for around 100,000 tonnes of eMethanol per year from the planned Paysandú project in Uruguay, to be certified as RFNBO under RED III. HIF EMEA is a member of SPIN.
  • A letter of intent with GLE360 of 28 September 2026, which discusses up to 100,000 tonnes of eMethanol per year over about 20 years from 2029. Volumes, prices and specifications are still being negotiated.

GEF1 is candid that the greenhouse gas balance is not yet fixed: it depends on the origin of the methanol, the energy supply and the rest of the supply chain, and will be determined before commercial operation. From a Power-to-X perspective, the deciding factor is the carbon in the methanol. Recycled CO₂ can come from three sources – biogenic, atmospheric and industrial (CCU) – and all three are legitimate, as long as the recycling displaces fossil carbon and does not create an incentive to extract more of it.

BMW’s first fill: a signal, not yet a market

Under the letter of intent, the BMW Group plans to use e-fuels as the first fill for new petrol cars at selected German production sites. CAC now dates this intention to 2029. The volumes per car are small: Auto Bild reports a first fill of five to eight litres. The value lies less in the litres than in the message: a major carmaker is committing, at least in intent, to renewable petrol from a German plant.

Why it matters for Switzerland

The problem is fossil fuel, not the combustion engine. Cars already on the road will keep running for years, and a drop-in petrol that meets DIN EN 228 can defossilise part of that fleet without new vehicles or new infrastructure. Renewable fuels complement electrification; together they cut cumulative CO₂ emissions faster than either path alone.

Switzerland has already created the instrument that turns such fuels into a demand signal. Under Art. 11a of the CO₂ Act, in force since 1 January 2025, vehicle importers and manufacturers can have the CO₂ reduction achieved with renewable synthetic fuels counted towards their new-car fleet emissions, provided they prove which quantities a fuel supplier has contractually attributed to them. A first fill makes a statement; long-term volumes credited under Art. 11a create bankable demand. On the tax side, the planned Mineral Oil Tax Ordinance overhaul foresees a zero rate for renewable petrol, as we reported.

Switzerland will rely on imports for much of its renewable fuel. European plants built on a process that has already been run at scale are exactly the kind of supply the Swiss market will need.

What remains open

None of the sources reports a final investment decision. Methanol supply and offtake rest on letters of intent and term sheets, the greenhouse gas balance has yet to be documented, and the start date has already moved once. Even the LinkedIn post that sparked this article closes by noting that production start and annual output are project targets. Steyerberg is a promising project – not yet a plant.

Get involved

Are you working on renewable fuels, eMethanol or their market introduction in Switzerland? Join the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network – see our members or contact us at info@power-to-x.swiss.

Sources: German eFuel One: project website and press release on GLE360 (28 September 2026); CAC ENGINEERING: 300,000 litres of synthetic petrol (15 September 2026); BMW Group: press release (13 October 2025); Hydrogen Tech World; Auto Bild; Art. 11a CO₂ Act.

🤖 AI transparency: This text and its visual were created using AI, reviewed and approved by a human.