Sweden Targets World’s Highest Biofuel Blending

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October 26, 2020

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Tomas Ekbom and Cecilia Higa (Swedish Bioenergy Association/IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter) ... In the beginning there was ethanol In 1907, there were only 662 vehicles registered in Sweden. The fuel, “Benzin” (the word initially taken from the German language, i.e. petrol) was purchased then at the pharmacy, paint store or chemical store. With the improvement of roads in the 1920s and engines becoming more reliable, special stores – fuelling stations – started selling petrol. A mixture of 25% petrol and 75% ethanol, what would today be called "E75", was sold from the 1920s onwards under the product name Bentyl. The rationale was foremost to reduce dependence on imported petroleum.

Ethanol was a readily available domestic raw material then, a so-called sulphite spirit by-product from the Swedish pulp industry. The wood pulp plant Domsjö Fabriker in Örnsköldsvik still produces fuel ethanol and has over a century of experience with biofuel. Motor gas as it was then called, i.e., petrol with a high content of ethanol, was sold for many decades, even into the 1950s. Oil then became much cheaper and the use of fuel ethanol diminished until the oil crises in the 1970s, when interest in alternative fuels was rekindled and became widespread.

Fuel ethanol for transport however returned in 1984 when the oil company OK introduced E4 as a new petrol and marketed it with commercials focusing on the environment.

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Then, in 1997, also as the first petrol company to do so, OK introduced E10 ....

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However, because of EU regulations and taxes, in 2000 the ethanol blending was lowered to E5. From 2004, almost all petrol 95 sold in Sweden has been E5. Blending of biodiesel (rapeseed methyl ester, RME) in diesel as B2 was introduced in 2005, and raised to B5 in 2006, and then in 2011 increased to B7 in accordance with changed fuel standards.

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The first commercial introduction of a pure biofuel in Sweden was in 1986, with ED95 (also called Etamax Diesel)
containing 95% ethanol and an ignition improver introduced as a new fuel for heavy-duty diesel engines, mainly for use
in the municipal bus transport sector. This was followed by introducing E85 fuel for passenger fuel-flexible vehicles
(FFV) in 1994, with widespread sales of FFV cars and E85 fuel in a nation-wide distribution network available at a large
share of fuelling stations.

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During the 1990s, there was also market introduction of biogas for transport with a mix of biomethane and compressed
natural gas (CNG), bio-CNG, together with RME as B100 for both passenger cars and heavy transport. Thus, the journey
for biofuels in Sweden started over 100 years ago and has become increasingly important since 1995 when the government began giving biofuels tax exemptions.

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Biodiesel is sold in the market as low-blend RME and pure RME (termed RME100 or B100) and as low-blend hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) [also known as renewable diesel] and pure HVO (termed HVO100).

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The recast directive, RED II, extends the legal framework to 2030 and sets a new binding renewable energy target for the EU for 2030 of at least 32%. This includes an increased 14% target for the share of renewable fuels in transport by 2030, including multipliers, and also an advanced biofuels quota.

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Within the EU, Sweden has the largest share of biofuels in the transport segment, according to RED calculation rules (based on energy content).

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One third of Sweden’s national GHG emissions originate from domestic transport. Additionally, 95% of the emissions
from this segment come from domestic transport.

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While there is substantial research in Sweden on wood-based biofuels, the main production is grain-based ethanol and
conventional RME biodiesel and more lately renewable diesel (HVO).

Future plans for new production plants in Sweden are focussed on achieving very large capacities for HVO production and virtually no expansion of ethanol or RME.

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There are two types of biodiesel in the Swedish market – HVO (Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, also called renewable diesel) and FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester).

HVO biodiesel is produced in an integrated process in petroleum refineries and is a biofuel that is fully fungible with traditional fossil fuel-based diesel. Although HVO generally is produced from various types of oilseeds and fats, tall oil – a by-product from the forest industry – is mostly used as the feedstock for HVO production in Sweden.

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Additionally, some of HVO’s advantages are related to its distribution and refuelling infrastructure not requiring additional investments. HVO can be produced in oil refineries thanks to the refining processes present, like hydrogenation. However, a refinery may require additional investments to develop HVO production capacity.

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For FAME biodiesel production in Sweden, rapeseed oil is the most common feedstock.

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Ethanol in Sweden is blended in all 95 and 98 octane petrol and sold as high-blend E85 (85% ethanol in petrol) and ED95 (95% ethanol with 5% ignition improvers).

Biogas produced and sold for the transport sector in Sweden is called Fordonsgas. Mainly the anaerobic digestion process is used and the raw biogas contains methane and CO2 and a smaller share of sulphur compounds. Upgrading and compressing produces a gaseous vehicle fuel, Bio-CNG, that contains at least 98% methane by volume.

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Since 2007, St1 has operated a food-waste-based ethanol plant and demonstrated cellulosic-based ethanol production in Finland. In 2015, a bakery-waste ethanol plant of 5,000 m3 annual capacity was started at the refinery in Gothenburg.

However, the general plan for the future is to increase HVO production, with a current 200,000 ton HVO plantvinvestment underway and project development started for a second plant of equal size.

In addition to these ethanol production facilities, SEKAB’s E-Technology has a small pilot plant for ethanol from wood technology in Örnsköldsvik; the process technology is called CelluTech™ and fractionates biomass into bioethanol, biogas and solid fuel products. The plant operates in campaigns and has from time to time been idle. However, with new projects to develop new products underway, this plant’s activity is now high.

Lantmännen Agroetanol produces ethanol by fermenting grain, which largely comes from Swedish farmers. This company is also working to expand its raw material base further to include straw and sawdust. To improve the climate performance (lower the carbon intensity) of its ethanol, a cooperation has been initiated with Linde Gas, in which CO2 from ethanol production is converted into carbonic acid within Linde's facility adjacent to Lantmännen Agroetanol.

Most of Lantmännen’s ethanol is exported to Germany for blending at low levels in petrol. Some is also sold for producing E85 and ED95 used in Sweden.

The ethanol from Domsjö Fabriker is sold to SEKAB, which distributes it as both technical grade ethanol and fuel ethanol. The raw material used is sugar-rich black liquor from the sulphite pulp mill. This ethanol is mostly sold to Finland, where it can be double-counted in the country's obligation schemes.

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From 1996, fuel statistics have included biogas used as transport fuel, i.e. Fordonsgas. However, as production and distribution was not steady and could not meet the full demand, fossil-CNG was mixed with bio-CNG. Consumption of
Fordonsgas has since gradually increased but remained at low levels. On the other hand, the renewable proportion to
fossil has increased dramatically last years. The share of bio-CNG exceeded that of fossil-CNG in 2008 and constitutes
now more than 90%.

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Some of the leading options include:
• Using more renewable fuels in conventional engines,
• Using renewable fuels in adapted engines, and
• Producing electricity, hydrogen and electro fuels (power-to-X fuels) from renewable energy.

The utilization of drop-in biofuels in conventional petrol and diesel engines does not demand any new infrastructure.
Also, the availability of vehicles will not impact the transition to biofuels. In fact, access to biofuels and their market
prices are the main issues limiting the transition. HVO can be utilized in admixtures up to 70-100% in fossil diesel. It is
also possible to run HVO in conventional diesel motors.

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The Swedish government decided to implement a petroleum reduction quota mandate system on carbon emissions
starting from 1 July 2018 with initial targeted reduction levels specified until 2020.

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Sweden has 24% renewables in transport (2018) without multipliers, and 30% with multipliers.

Within the EU, Sweden is the only country that has achieved the EU’s target of 10% renewable energy within the transport sector (RES-T) without multipliers.

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The goal of the Fuel Change policy is to achieve a linear progression towards the targeted 2030 reduction quota levels
of 28% for petrol and 66% for diesel....

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Biofuels are today more expensive than fossil fuels. In order to cope with increasing fuel prices for the consumer, it is
proposed that fuel tax indexations based on GDP are paused until 2022. However, the energy taxes on fuels are still
increased based on changes in the consumer price index (CPI). These changes will be in effect from 1 January 2021.

The aviation transport sector also will be changed. In 2019, a reduction quota mandate was proposed for aviation fuel,
starting with 0.8% for 2021 and increasing to 27% in 2030. This would be equivalent to an aviation fuel blending on
volume of 1% in 2021 and 30% in 2030. This will include all fuelling at Swedish airports, for both domestic and
international flights. The target is 100% by 2045, meaning a total phase-out of fossil aviation fuels.

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... European Commission have made it clear that food and feed based biofuels should be limited and not likely to be
approved for future tax exemption. The Swedish government’s ambition is also focused on the reduction quota
mandates system. Still, the tax exemption has been the measure that has most helped Sweden’s development in high
use of biofuels.

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The re-start of the economy will be “green”, meaning investments will be made in climate-neutral industrial production and sustainable transport.

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Another measure is the subsidy program called “Industriklivet” (Industry Leap) for climate investments in the industry
that is run by the Swedish Energy Agency, which will be broadened to include biorefineries. However, in the sister program “Klimatklivet” (Climate Leap) there already have been subsidies for investments in biogas and pyrolysis plants, with a subsidy level of about 40% of the capital cost. There also have been numerous projects focused on improving the infrastructure and distribution for biofuels that have received subsidies.

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The program is broadened to also include investments for biorefineries, recycled plastics refineries, hydrogen manufacturing, including research and development, and project development, although investments for biofuel plants
have been granted earlier within the Klimatklivet program.

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With the new system, vehicles with lower carbon emissions are given a bonus (lower sales price) whereas vehicles with higher carbon emissions have to pay higher vehicle taxes for the first three years after purchasing a vehicle.

For electric and hydrogen cars (zero emission vehicles) the bonus is maximum SEK 60,000 and not higher than 25% of
the new sales price. The bonus decreases as vehicle carbon emissions in grams per kilometre increase. Electriccharged hybrid vehicles with emissions below 70 gram carbon dioxide per kilometre (based on the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) emission cycle) get bonus. For vehicles driven on E85 there is no bonus, but also no increased tax, or malus. However, vehicles driven with bio-CNG receive a bonus of SEK 10,000.

This bonus-malus vehicle taxation system is now proposed to be modified to increase the maximum bonus for zero emission vehicles to SEK 70,000 and to decrease the maximum emissions to qualify for taxation as an electric-charged
hybrid vehicle to 60 gram CO2 per kilometre. In addition, heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and buses are proposed to be
included.

Another policy measure being introduced is a premium to support converting conventional diesel and petrol engines
for running on liquid biofuels or biogas. READ MORE

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Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production history E4 Sweden E10 E75 oil prices ethanol production Pulp/Paper Mill co-products E5 RME (rape methyl ester) biodiesel B2 B5 B7 ED95 buses E85 flex-fuel vehicles (FFV) B100 Biogas methane/biomethane Compressed Natural Gas (CNG/R-CNG/bioCNG) HVO (Hydrotreated vegetable oil) FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Ester) ethanol/bioethanol anaerobic digester/digestion tax policy tax incentives European Union (EU) Jetfuel (Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)) Green Recovery Investing energy policy environmental policy Transportation Fuels Policy Finland

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