reFuel.ch Round Table Highlights Regulatory and Production Challenges for Sustainable Fuels

Regulatory Frameworks Under Scrutiny

The first session, moderated by consortium co-lead Regina Betz (ZHAW), focused on regulatory implementation. Frank Hayer from the Federal Office of the Environment (FOEN) outlined Switzerland's approach, while refuel.ch WP1 lead Ilaria Espa (USI) presented the European Union's framework. Consortium co-lead Christian Bach (Empa) discussed practical aspects of certifying sustainable fuels and transporting them to Switzerland drawing from the new Swiss Guarantee of Origin regulation.        

The discussion highlighted key regulatory differences between Switzerland and the EU. While Switzerland allows also Life Cycle Analysis (stemming from earlier mineral oil tax rules), the EU requires RED-III certification. These diverging approaches sparked questions about the new Swiss Guarantee of Origin system at Pronovo and its interaction with EU RED-III regulation for transporting and declaration requirements for blended imported fuels. Participants also raised important integrity concerns — such as the risk of misclassifying virgin palm oil as wastecooking oil.

Overcoming Production Challenges for Sustainable Fuels and Platform Chemicals

The second session addressed challenges in production and scale-up. Jörg Roth (PSI) welcomed Fridolin Roth (Axpo), who presented on Renewable Hydrogen for Switzerland imported via the natural gas grid. Gianfranco Guidati (ETHZ) shared insights from the 1 MW Methanol plant in Zug, and Nihad Kasraoui (Metafuels) provided an update on scaling production.

The main takeaways were that in the current environment, offtake agreements are key to move renewable fuel projects forward and for successful scale up. Even commercially modest projects — such as hydrogen blended into natural gas — were highlighted as important steps in building market confidence. All speakers agree that Methanol is an important intermediate and enabler for climate neutral fuels and chemicals to power applications that can’t be electrified in the mid-term.