1. Annual Conference of the SWEET consortium reFuel.ch
Approximately 100 participants, with around half representing the private sector and federal offices, gathered at the V-Zug premises to discuss the initial results of the young consortium and to receive input from external experts.
Bernhard Dietrich gave an impressive presentation on "Forecasts for Renewable Aviation Fuel and Its Consequences." He explained that numerous Power-to-X (PtX) projects are currently under development. However, after the feasibility studies, many of these projects face a significant risk of termination. Experience has shown that the primary reasons for this include unclear regulatory and legal situations, new and complex technologies, and uncertain demand. As a result, (used) vegetable oil is currently and for the medium term the preferred raw material for aviation fuel. However, all parties agreed that the quantities available in the long term will not be sufficient.
For the researchers in the consortium, this underlines the need to solve the open social and technical issues for the time when vegetable oil-based fuels are no longer sufficient to ensure the necessary reduction in greenhouse gases.
Frederic Vogel introduced a different way to produce jet fuel via biomass, such as green waste, manure, or wood residues. He summarized the state of the art and the challenges associated with sourcing bio-oil from these biomass substrates through hydrothermal liquefaction. This bio-crude serves as a precursor for various types of fuels.
These topics were also the focus of panel discussions and the poster session that took place on this day.
Besides aviation, high-temperature processes in industry are also facing significant decarbonization challenges. During the lunch break, V-Zug, the event's host, invited the participants to a guided tour of the enameling oven. Christian Bach explained that V-Zug is pursuing plans to use hydrogen for heat-intensive processes and to extract it from methane through pyrolysis. This process removes the resulting carbon from the atmospheric carbon cycle as pellets.
In summary, it was an informative day that offered insights via specialist presentations and plenty of opportunities for informal discussions.
Selected presentations from the day can be downloaded here: Link
