Alessia Cesarini has a PhD in chemical engineering, works as a research scientist at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Empa, and is a co-founder of a startup called Gota Energy. At first glance, her product sounds rather unspectacular: gasoline – plain and simple. But it's artificially produced, low in CO₂, and suitable for everyday use.

The exciting part about Cesarini’s idea, though, is not the end product. Like other development projects in that area, Gota Energy intends to replace fossil raw materials with renewable molecules such as plant or food residues or CO₂ from the ambient air and to produce a synthetic fuel from that resembling chemically conventional gasoline like an identical twin. The major advantage of such “synfuels” is that the virtual gasoline can be fed into the existing filling station infrastructure as a so-called drop-in fuel and is compatible with current ICEs without any conversions. 

“The goal is a solution that works with existing vehicles and infrastructure – sustainable both environmentally and economically.“

Researcher Alessia Cesarini

Synfuels like these are regarded as a crucial key to operating the fleet of ICE vehicles that will continue to exist for many more years or even decades in more climate-friendly ways. Ideally, even in climate-neutral ways if they only emit the CO₂ again that has previously been removed from the atmosphere. A look at statistics from the International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasizes the urgent need to bring such synfuels to market on a large scale. IEA experts are proceeding from the assumption that by 2035 despite the current fast growth of market share electric vehicles will only account for a fourth of the 450 million vehicles expected to exist by then around the world.

To refuel such a large number of vehicles in a more sustainable way, we need a fuel that is technically compatible with standard engines and that can be produced energy-efficiently, is available in large quantities, and is affordable. Various field tests have demonstrated that synfuels can already be used today in propulsion systems ranging from small engines to ship engines to jet turbines. However, energy-efficient large-scale production at marketable prices remains a challenge, and that’s exactly the point of engagement for researcher Alessia Cesarini and her idea.

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Renewable molecules instead of petroleum

Based on fermentation-based alcohol (methanol or ethanol), she wants to produce tailor-made fuels in a simplified process chain on an industrial scale. These are meant to come so close to the petrochemical original that they can be used on land, in the air, or on water without any modifications to vehicles or infrastructure.

Cesarini’s simplified process chain begins with the dehydration of bio-alcohol, a globally known large-scale industrial process. The resulting products are molecules such as ethylene (ethene) or propylene (propene). This is where Cesarini’s patented catalyst comes into play: following a modular principle, it converts the molecules directly into liquid, tank-ready hydrocarbon chains. However, the exact composition of this catalyst remains Cesarini’s trade secret.

The decisive advantage of this so-called oligomerization over other synfuel projects: the process chain implemented with Cesarini’s catalyst requires fewer steps than other synfuel production methods and needs neither high temperatures nor high pressures. This lowers energy demand and simplifies production. The researcher has not published exact figures on this. However, she did reveal this much: according to initial analyses, the fuel could be price-competitive with fossil gasoline at industrial-scale production, although this assessment is still preliminary given the early stage of development.

Other fuels, same engine

From the laboratory to a company of her own

The roots are found in Cesarini’s research at ETH Zurich and Empa. She’s been working on catalysts and the production of synthetic fuels since as far back as 2021. From this scientific work – and other projects centered on sustainable energy sources – she and her colleague Ali Saadun came up with the idea to start their own company.

The name “Gota” says it all: In the dialect of Ticino, “gota” means drop and fits two levels of the project. A drop of energy – plus the personal connection to Cesarini’s native region.

In 2026, the researcher was recognized for her work with the Empa Entrepreneur Fellowship. With that grant, Empa supports scientists in migrating their research results into marketable products and viable business models.

From a forest trail to a filling station

A laboratory demonstrator with a production capacity of about 10,000 liters (2,650 gallons) per year has already been operating in Empa’s research center. The project is still primarily focused on a further optimization of the method and preparation for larger quantities. In the next project stage, the technology in the Empa mobility demonstrator “move” is supposed to be scaled further and tested under practice-oriented conditions.

The market launch is deliberately being planned as a step-by-step process. The first test field to be used is forestry, where the fuel is supposed to prove itself under real-world operating conditions. Larger quantities are planned for delivery to local fuel distributors only at a later stage.