Believe it or not, the car has been around since the late 19th century and in that time, petrol and diesel have been the most cost-effective and practical way to move them about.

Today, we live in a world where climate change is becoming more prominent and things need to be done to cut down our use of fossil fuels and our production of CO2 emissions. Even though EVs are taking over the decarbonisation limelight, there are alternatives that could be just as effective in reducing our carbon footprints.

The alternative here is sustainable fuel. It could be a way of unlocking the future of petrol cars, enabling drivers to use their vehicles as normal but while running on a fuel made in a cleaner, greener way.

What is it? Technically speaking it’s fuel made from renewable materials such as animal waste. However, there are several different types of the substance. Firstly, it can be a second generation of biofuels, which is made from agricultural waste such as straw and crops. Secondly, synthetic or e-fuels are made from a combination of captured CO2 and hydrogen.

The benefit towards sustainable fuels is that manufacturing them produces a lot less CO2. Companies such as Porsche have already invested in sustainable fuel production sites which run using wind power, driving down emissions in the process. The end result is a product very similar to petrol - and it can be used just like petrol in cars, too.

What’s more, the biggest positive is that petrol station forecourts will not have to be converted into EV charging hubs and the fuels can simply be stored in tanks underneath the pumps. But, the biggest positive is that all our internal-combustion engined vehicles can run on it, without any mechanical enhancements.

Vehicles running on sustainable fuels - or e-fuels, as they are often referred to - still do produce CO2, but the savings are made through the fuel’s more eco-friendly production process. Synthetic fuels are made using captured CO2 from the atmosphere - so while cars do still emit carbon dioxide when running on them, they are only releasing what has already been captured beforehand. It’s more of a circular economy in that way.

Sustainable fuels have already been put to the test in a big fashion. The latest Goodwood Revival event has become one of the first motorsport events to feature cars running entirely on e-fuels, and it’s expected that the next-generation fuel will increasingly play a big role in motorsports, too. Porsche’s Mobil 1 Supercup series also featured a grid of 32 cars that used e-fuels throughout the entire season.

Mazda recently took four MX-5s of every generation from Land’s End to John O’Groats. It was a celebration to mark the iconic sports car's 35th birthday but, most importantly, every vehicle was running on renewable fuel to see how they all performed and whether you can cover long distances in an internal combustion engine without harming the environment.

But, what are the implications of making this substance? And how long will it be before we see this new generation of fuel being put into the pumps in our local fuel stations.

We have spoken to Becky Mann, who works for Coryton Sustain Fuels to give us some clearer ideas of what to expect from the future.

Does an internal combustion engine need any modifications to run on the fuel?

“No alterations are needed to either the cars or the forecourts that serve them. Sustain fuels offer a drop-in solution for everyday road cars which would typically run regular pump unleaded petrol. Sustain classic (available to the public from Motor Spirit) is specially formulated for classic vehicles but can be used by any vehicle which runs on petrol. It can be mixed with fossil fuel, with no issues at all and has less than one per cent ethanol content.”

What’s the difference between sustainable fuel and synthetic e-fuels?

“There are three types of sustainable fuel. Sustain is an advanced biofuel that includes second generation agricultural waste. Biofuel is made by fermentation of plant-based material, hydrotreatment or esterification of plant based-oils. First generation uses crops as its source of biomass, the second generation uses waste as its source of biomass and the third generation uses microorganisms as its source of biomass.”

She added: “Synthetic fuels are a set of hydrocarbon fuels made using CO, CO2 and hydrogen via syngas and Fischer-Tropsch-type processes. E-fuels are a subset of synthetic fuels relying on renewable energy to power the process to harness CO/CO2 and hydrogen. Recycled carbon fuels are fuels produced from fossil wastes that cannot be avoided, reused or recycled. Its feedstocks include industrial waste gases and the fossil-derived fraction of municipal solid waste such as non-recyclable plastic.”