The EU renewable ethanol sector produced more food and animal feed than fuel in 2022, according to the European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE).
According to ePURE’s audited data, its members produced 5.9 million tonnes of food and feed co-products, including high-protein animal feed, in 2022.
In the same year, ePURE members produced 4.5 million tonnes of renewable ethanol.
Aside from those figures, additional co-products of the ethanol refinement process in 2022 included 1.1 million tonnes of captured biogenic C02, which ePURE describes as a “strategic domestic product that replaces fossil C02 in beverage and greenhouse applications”.
85% of the EU’s installed ethanol refinement capacity is represented by ePURE members, according to the association.
It has 42 member companies and subsidiary associations, which together operates some 50 renewable ethanol plants across the EU and UK. The association was founded in 2010.
Commenting on the data for last year, David Carpintero, ePURE’s director general, said: “The European renewable ethanol industry’s important contribution to EU food security sometimes goes overlooked or misrepresented in the debate over biofuels, which often focuses on ‘food versus fuel’.
“By creating vegetable protein for food and animal feed in addition to GHG [greenhouse gas] saving fuel ethanol and captured biogenic CO2, domestic ethanol production is a win-win for Europe’s energy independence and food security.”
According to ePURE, all of the crops used in its members’ biorefineries were grown by European farmers.
Of the 4.5 million tonnes of renewable ethanol produced by ePURE members last year, 84.7% was used for fuel; 7.4% was put towards industrial use, including the manufacture of hand sanitiser; while 8% was used for food and beverage production.
According to ePURE, the audited data also showed “record-high GHG saving performance” of the produced ethanol compared to fossil petrol.
The feedstocks used in ethanol production in 2022 among ePURE members was mostly comprised of corn, which accounted for 47.8% of feedstocks used. This was followed by wheat (23.3%); sugars (13.9%); and other cereals and starch-rich crops (1.9%).
Among EU countries, France produced by far the most biorefined ethanol in 2022, with an output of just over 2 billion litres. This was almost double the output of the second biggest producer, Germany, were production was just short of 1.1 billion litres.
Hungary also has a sizable production capacity for renewable ethanol, producing just over 1 billion litres in 2022, the third highest producer in the EU last year.
Although it is no longer an EU member, the ePURE data includes statistics for the UK, where production also exceeded 1 billion litres last year.
Ireland’s production of renewable ethanol was the second lowest in the EU last year, at 10 million litres. Only Portugal, with an output of three million litres, produced less.