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reFuel.ch awarded funding from SWEET programme

A decision has been made on the call for proposals “Sustainable Fuels and Platform Chemicals”: The reFuel.ch consortium led by Empa will receive project funding.
August 10, 2023
move, Empa's demonstrator for the mobility of the future, shows how surplus renewable electricity that cannot be used directly in the electricity market can be used to produce renewable chemical energy carriers - e.g. in the form of hydrogen or synthetic methane. Image: Empa
move, Empa's demonstrator for the mobility of the future, shows how surplus renewable electricity that cannot be used directly in the electricity market can be used to produce renewable chemical energy carriers - e.g. in the form of hydrogen or synthetic methane. Image: Empa

The overall target of reFuel.ch (Renewable Fuels and Chemicals for Switzerland) is to improve the sustainability and reduce the costs of sustainable fuels and platform chemicals by increasing the efficiency, selectivity, and load-flexibility of production plants to comply with long-term climate policy goals.

The consortium will investigate how investment security can be improved by closing the knowledge gap between technical and non-technical aspects of sustainable fuels. Robust and practical pathways for the introduction of sustainable fuels and platform chemicals into markets and the Swiss energy system will be developed. To achieve this, inputs from social and natural sciences and engineering as well as from the dialogue with relevant stakeholders will be included. A second aim is to strengthen innovative technologies currently at low technology readiness level.

The call “Sustainable Fuels and Platform Chemicals” was developed in collaboration with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) and the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse). The reFuel.ch consortium was selected in a two-stage procedure. The funding is CHF 15 million. The consortium consists of Empa as "host institution" and the members Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of Basel, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), "Scuola universitaria professionale della Svizzera italiana" (SUPSI), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and Casale SA.

SWEET (Swiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) funding programme

The SWEET programme issues rolling calls for proposals for consortium projects and will continue until 2032. Funding is provided only for consortium projects that address central research topics of the 2050 Energy Strategy and Switzerland's long-term climate strategy in a comprehensive manner. SWEET focuses on solution-oriented research and on demonstrations of the results achieved. The SFOE has the lead for the SWEET programme.

Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA)

FOCA supports the development and use of sustainable (aviation) fuels. These fuels can significantly reduce the impact of air traffic on the climate. Development in this area is a priority defined in the current multi-year SFLV financial aid programme. Close cooperation with the partner offices is sought in order to ensure that funding is as effective as possible.

armasuisse

The Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse) is the procurement, technology and real estate centre of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS). It is responsible for the development, evaluation, procurement and disposal of systems and materials of the Swiss Armed Forces and other customers. It participates in meeting the DDPS's energy policy objectives as set out in the Energy and Climate action plan. Replacing fossil fuels with more climate-friendly options is a high priority in this regard.

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Research Paper on global cost drivers for low-carbon fuels in Energy & Environmental Science
Papers

Global cost drivers and regional trade-offs for low-carbon fuels: a prospective techno-economic assessment

Low-carbon fuels (LCFs) such as green hydrogen, synthetic hydrocarbons, and biofuels are critical for decarbonizing sectors that are difficult to electrify. In this study, we present a globally harmonized techno-economic assessment of 21 LCF production pathways, including power-to-X, biomass- and sun-to-liquids, and multiple hydrogen routes, evaluated across all countries under three future scenarios for 2024, 2030, and 2050. The model integrates spatially explicit resource data, learning-driven capital cost trajectories, and dynamic, country- and technology-specific costs of capital, supported by robust scenarios and uncertainty analysis. By 2050, median levelized costs are projected to range from 0.07 to 0.10 EUR2024 per kWh for green hydrogen, 0.15 to 0.18 EUR2024 per kWh for power-to-liquid kerosene, and 0.14 to 0.20 EUR2024 per kWh for most bio-based aviation fuels, reflecting both substantial progress and persistent regional disparities. Our results show that while innovation, technology learning, and deep power sector decarbonization can unlock cost-competitive electrofuels in countries with abundant renewables, bio-based routes are frequently cost competitive for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production in near-term scenarios, and solar-to-liquid fuels remain constrained by feedstock availability and capital barriers. Nuclear- and methane-based hydrogen emerge as primary options in many regions, as well as the dominance of turquoise hydrogen in Russia, the Middle East, and Central Asia where carbon management is viable, which highlights the context-specific nature of future LCF systems. We also found that the least-cost logistics for global hydrogen trade will shift from ammonia shipping to pipeline transport and methanol delivery, with North Africa and Iberia emerging as leading suppliers to Europe. These findings underscore the need for integrated innovation, policy coordination, and investment strategies that address both resource and financial barriers, in order to achieve scalable, resilient, and cost-effective LCF supply chains worldwide.
March 17, 2026
blog post of reFuel
Research paper Active Phase–Support Interaction in Phosphotungstic Acid-SiO2 Catalysts Enables Enhanced Olefin Oligomerization to Synthetic Fuel in ACS Catalysis
Papers

Active Phase–Support Interaction in Phosphotungstic Acid-SiO2 Catalysts Enables Enhanced Olefin Oligomerization to Synthetic Fuel

Transitioning the aviation sector to synthetic aviation fuels (SAF) requires innovative catalytic processes to overcome common limitations such as insufficient activity, selectivity, and catalyst deactivation. This study presents a detailed exploration of silica-supported phosphotungstic acid (PTA/SiO2) as a robust solid acid catalyst for propylene conversion into jet fuel-range hydrocarbons (C8 to C16) at mild reaction conditions (150 °C). The catalyst with optimized PTA loading (10 wt %) demonstrates significant oligomerization performance, achieving high selectivity to jet fuel-range hydrocarbons (>80%) and propylene conversion (>90%), alongside limited aromatic byproducts formation. Compared to conventional solid-acid catalysts such as a ZSM-5 zeolite, PTA/SiO2 exhibits significantly reduced catalyst deactivation and can be regenerated through mild thermal treatment (<400 °C). Detailed structural characterization revealed that PTA island size influences product selectivity. Increasing the PTA weight loading leads to larger active phase island sizes, with larger PTA islands preferentially producing longer-chain hydrocarbons (C15+). Raman spectroscopy confirms the preservation of the PTA Keggin structural integrity across all catalyst loadings, although perturbations in terminal W═O vibrations occur due to interactions with the SiO2 support. Crucially, insights obtained through combined XPS/HAXPES analyses reveal significant electronic interactions between PTA and SiO2, characterized by pronounced bending of the energy bands at the interface between semiconducting PTA and insulating SiO2. This effect generates interfacial tungsten states, which enhance localized electron mobility and facilitate proton transfer, significantly amplifying catalytic activity. Even catalysts with minimal Brønsted acidity (1 wt % PTA loading) exhibit notable turn over, emphasizing interfacial electronic modulation, rather than bulk acidity alone, as an important performance descriptor in olefin oligomerization.
March 17, 2026
blog post of reFuel
Switzerland and Oman are moving ahead together. The Omani Abdullah Al Abri, VP Sustainability Port of Sohar and Freezone (right), and Empa researcher Christian Bach (left) present a letter of intent marking their commitment to collaborate within the SWEET Consortium reFuel.ch. Image: Empa
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