Ethanol production and processing essEnce5 and E85
The bioethanol fuel produced in Switzerland as part of a pilot project led by Alcosuisse is totally tax exempt (no tax on mineral oils), up to 8 million litres a year. This ethanol fuel (99.7% vol. alcohol) is a by-product from the manufacture of cellulose, processed by Borregaard, in Attisholz, Switzerland. So the raw material for this domestic biofuel comes from wood wastes. Unfortunately, this plant will stop production at the end of 2008 because of market-related factors in the cellulose industry. Since ethanol is a co-product of this process, it is highly improbable that the production of bioethanol can continue. Alcosuisse, which supplies ethanol to distributors, has taken the lead - starting in 2009, it will supply European ethanol that is also produced from wastes. The enabling legislation for the new mineral oil Law provides for systematic tax exemption for biofuels produced from wastes, so the bioethanol supplied by Alcosuisse will continue to be exempt from mineral oil tax.
In future, therefore, bioethanol will always be exclusively derived from biomass, although the raw material may vary according to the origin of the product. EssEnce5 and E85 blends are presently processed by Alcosuisse in Delémont and Schachen, by adding ethanol in tankers that already contain the appropriate proportion of 95-octane petrol. Alcosuisse is now working towards a decentralisation of ethanol stocks. There are also two existing pilot sites in private companies.
We now have over a hundred service stations (owned by fuel distributors or by companies or administrations with large fleets of vehicles) distributing bioethanol petrol in Switzerland. The first retail outlet selling E85 was opened in summer 2006, in Winterthur. At the moment (end-2008), there are about 45 service stations distributing E85.
