Availability of biofuels in Switzerland

Mixtures of biodiesel and ordinary diesel are usually described using the terminology Bx, where the letter x indicates the percentage of biodiesel (by volume) incorporated into diesel. The term B5 for instance refers to a mixture consisting of 5% vol. of biodiesel and 95% vol. of conventional diesel.

The nomenclature applies similarly to mixtures of bioethanol and conventional gasoline, usually described using the terminology Ex, where the letter x indicates the percentage of bioethanol (by volume) incorporated into gasoline. The term E5 for instance refers to a mixture of 5% vol. of bioethanol and 95% vol. of conventional gasoline.

In Switzerland, the large majority of biodiesel and bioethanol is delivered to users through major fuel distributors. In a few cases, however, biofuels are distributed directly from production sites, especially when final users wish to be supplied with pure biofuel. This situation today applies exclusively to biodiesel, and this is particularly true with companies such as Lüginbuhl (VS), Serbeco (GE), Migros Vaud (VD) or yet Goutte Récupération (VD). For legal reasons, fuel-bioethanol must transit through Alcosuisse. Alcosuisse therefore buys bioethanol from Borregaard, and the distribution is then realized either directly by Alcosuisse (essentially in the case of fleet managers), or through distributors of vehicle fuels.

The distribution of biofuels is divided between the general public and managers of vehicle fleets. The table below gives an overview of the main distributors of biofuels in Switzerland and the fuel blends distributed to service stations and vehicle fleets, as of January 2008.

Table : Main distributors of biofuels in Switzerland (situation January 2008)

Concerning the general public, biofuels are distributed in regular service stations, in the form of B5 for biodiesel and in the form of E5 and/or E85 for bioethanol. B5 is usually used in place of conventional diesel, while E5 generally replaces SP95 gasoline (less often SP98), depending on the configuration of storage and distribution facilities and/or the choice of the service station manager. E85 is most generally distributed in place of SP98 gasoline. In a limited number of stations, finally, some distributors offer B100.

The names of biofuel blends change from one distributor to another. For instance, B5 is distributed under the name "Diesel Greenlife Plus" by Migrol and "Diesel Bio5" by Flamol Mineralöl. The composition of the fuel blend is most often indicated by the distributors on the columns themselves.

While the choice of B5, E5 and E85 in large-scale distribution is dictated by existing standards on fuel quality, the supply of biofuels to fleet managers is more diversified (although still limited). This is discussed in more detail on the page about the use of biofuels.

The Biofuels Platform proposes an interactive map which allows locating distributors and producers of biofuels in Switzerland. Vehicle fleets using biofuels can also be located on this map.

In order to assess the availability of biofuels at the scale of Switzerland, one must first define the consumption of diesel and gasoline in the country. The figure below shows the evolution of fuel consumption in the transportation sector in Switzerland from 1992 to 2006, expressed in Ml.

Figure : Evolution of vehicle fuels consumption in Switzerland from 1992 to 2006 (in Ml)

The total fuel consumption in Switzerland was 6'970 Ml in 2007. According to the diagrams on the figure above, the fuel consumption in Switzerland over the past 15 years, despite some slight variations, appears to be relatively stable (6'970 Ml in 2007 compared with 6'630 Ml in 1992), even more so since 2000. The share of diesel during the same period, has increased significantly to almost 34% vol. in 2007 (compared with 20% in 1992).

The two diagrams in the figure below compares the evolution of biofuels production in the EU with conventional fuel consumption in Switzerland, over the period 1992-2007. While the total fuel consumption in Switzerland was 6'970 Ml in 2007 (4'600 Ml gasoline and 2'370 Ml diesel), the production of biodiesel and bioéthanol in the EU amounted to 1'770 Ml (i.e. 38% of gasoline consumption in Switzerland) and 6'434 Ml (i.e. 272% of the consumption of diesel in Switzerland) respectively.

Figure : Production of biofuels in the EU and consumption of vehicle fuels in Switzerland from 1992 to 2007 (in Ml)

In its comments on the amendment of Oimpmin [6], the Swiss Federal Customs Administration indicates the potential consumption of biofuels in the medium term, in order to define the expected tax losses and evaluate the new tax rate applicable to regular gasoline. The quoted quantities of biodiesel and bioethanol are 40 Ml/year (i.e. 1.9% of today's diesel market) and 55 Ml/year (i.e. 1.2% of today's gasoline market) respectively.

According to the most ambitious (yet realistic) scenario of a global introduction of biofuels at a rate of 5% vol. in conventional fuels (in agreement with the European Directive 98/70/EC on the quality of fuels), the volumes of biodiesel and bioethanol amount to 120 Ml/year and 230 Ml/year respectively. These volumes would obviously be doubled in the case of a global introduction at a rate of 10% vol. (in agreement this time with the proposal for a Directive amending Directive 98/70/EC of 31 January 2007).

The demand of biodiesel and bioethanol according to the various scenarios introduced above is presented in the table below. In all the scenarios, the consumption of diesel and gasoline corresponds to those in 2007.

Table : Potential biofuels annual demand in Switzerland according to various scenarios

The scenarios presented above do not take into account the development of E85, nor the possible use of biofuels at higher rates in vehicle fleets. These two factors could contribute significantly to increase the demand of biofuels.