It is obvious that the security of supply of ethanol is critical, especially during a pandemic. Literally, since we have been using the raw material almost daily since spring 2020 to disinfect our hands. But ethanol (pure alcohol) is used not only in medicine and cosmetics, but also in the food industry.
As early as autumn 2021, this ethanol should - at least in part - increasingly come from Swiss production. Alcosuisse and Schweizer Zucker AG have succeeded in producing ethanol from sugar beet.
"If the project goes according to plan, a Swiss ethanol production plant will come on stream again for the first time in late autumn this year," says Guido Stäger, CEO of Schweizer Zucker AG.
The plant's maximum production capacity of around 700,000 litres of pure ethanol per year is not sufficient, but it is a good start towards at least partially covering the demand for ethanol in Switzerland.
The new Swiss ethanol will basically be available in two qualities. Both are of high quality, one quality was developed specifically for use in the drinking sector, the other is the starting material for all other applications.
Swissness and sustainability
"The label 'Switzerland' alone is not enough for us," says Florian Krebs, managing director of Alcosuisse, "the ethanol should also be produced in a much more sustainable way than that from abroad.
The newly developed Swiss ethanol CH1+ sets new standards in quality and sustainability. It is one of the chemically and analytically purest, organoleptically finest and highest quality ethanols available. CH1+ is a 100% natural product, produced exclusively from Swiss beet.
Alcosuisse AG, Rüti b. Büren | alcosuisse.ch
Schweizer Zucker AG, Aarberg | zucker.ch
