Projects

The BEST-project

BEST stands for Bioethanol for Sustainable Transport and is an EU project to promote the establishment of ethanol within the European fuel market. The project encompasses 10 strategically chosen regions throughout Europe and the world, where the ethanol market is in different stages of development. A number of important players on the ethanol scene are also involved in the project, including Ford, Saab and SEKAB.

The aim of the project is to gather knowledge and expertise from regions where ethanol has already established itself as a fuel alternative, and then try to apply it in areas where progress has been more limited. The ethanol market in Sweden is far more developed than those of other European countries, and BEST therefore aims to make use of local knowledge concerning the establishment of ethanol as a fuel alternative. BEST also conducts studies into the environmental, technological and social advantages of ethanol use, and production. Among the results of BEST’s efforts is the introduction into service of over 10,000 ethanol-operated cars and 160 ethanol-operated buses across Europe.

SEKAB’s part in the project includes producing a new diesel fuel with a 10 per cent ethanol derivative. The fuel is currently being tested in Swedish buses. In a later phase of the project, SEKAB will also build a production facility to produce this diesel fuel.

The NILE-project

NILE stands for New Improvements for Ligno-cellulosic Ethanol and is an EU-funded research project in which SEKAB is one of the sub-project leaders. The project’s over-arching goals are to develop cost-effective, environmentally-sound methods for the mass production of ethanol as a vehicle fuel. The initiative is part of efforts to reach the goal of reducing fossil fuels in the transport system by 5.75 per cent by 2010, as outlined in an EU directive. NILE was the only bioethanol project to be approved in the EU’s sixth framework programme. The seventh framework programme, which began in 2007, includes a much larger investment in biofuels.

The NILE Project has identified three priority tasks, deemed to be of particular importance:

To develop new enzymes for the breaking down of cellulose in plant material (especially for softwoods and farm waste products such as wheat straw) into sugar.
To develop a number of new types of yeast able to convert the various types of sugars found in biomass into ethanol.
Increased process integration in order to reduce energy consumption.