Clean transport requires tailored energy carriers. For heavy-duty transportation, synthetic fuels are promising but must fulfil the key challenges of achieving carbon neutrality while reducing air pollution and ensuring scalability through compatibility with existing infrastructure. Here we show that hydroformylated Fischer–Tropsch (HyFiT) fuels composed of optimized alkane–alcohol blends simultaneously address these challenges. First, the design of the HyFiT fuel process flexibly closes the carbon cycle by employing biomass or carbon dioxide as feedstock, while being scalable through mature technologies. Second, fuel testing shows that HyFiT fuels comply with global fuel standards. Material compatibility is demonstrated for two standard sealing materials, enabling the retrofit of today’s vehicle fleets. Third, vehicle testing shows that HyFiT fuels substantially reduce combustion-induced particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. Fourth, a well-to-wheel life cycle assessment finds that HyFiT fuels enable the transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, showing simultaneously a favourable profile in other environmental parameters. HyFiT fuels can thus complement electrification for heavy-duty transportation.

清洁交通需要量身定制的能源载体。对于重型运输，合成燃料前景广阔，但必须应对实现碳中和的关键挑战，同时减少空气污染，并通过与现有基础设施的兼容性确保可扩展性。在这里，我们展示了由优化的烷烃-醇混合物组成的加氢甲酰化费托合成（HyFiT）燃料可以同时解决这些挑战。首先，HyFiT燃料工艺的设计通过采用生物质或二氧化碳作为原料灵活地封闭碳循环，同时通过成熟的技术进行扩展。其次，燃料测试表明HyFiT燃料符合全球燃料标准。两种标准密封材料的材料兼容性得到证实，可用于当今车队的改造。第三，车辆测试表明，HyFiT 燃料可大幅减少燃烧引起的颗粒物和氮氧化物。第四，从油井到车轮的生命周期评估发现，HyFiT 燃料能够实现向温室气体净零排放的过渡，同时在其他环境参数中表现出良好的表现。因此，HyFiT 燃料可以补充重型运输的电气化。