Sustainable fuels and base chemicals for Switzerland

A Memorandum of Understanding on sustainable energy and energy technologies was signed during the visit of Swiss President Alain Berset to Oman, and Empa researcher Christian Bach, the co-coordinator of reFuel.ch, received a corresponding Letter of Interest from the Omani Ambassador to Switzerland, H.E. Mahmood Al Hassani, for future collaboration; the reFuel.ch consortium thus came into being at just the right time. Although these are only the first steps on the long road to supplying Switzerland with sustainabe fuels and base chemicals, they demonstrate the international dimension of reFuel.ch, which brings together more than 60 project partners along the entire value chain.

The signing has already been followed by the first concrete steps. For example, a reFuel.ch delegation of 15 industry and research representatives will be travelling to Oman in December to hold talks with the Omani Ministry of Energy and Minerals on the sidelines of the Green Hydrogen Summit there. The talks will focus on the development of approaches for the production of sustainable energy sources and base chemicals as well as regulatory and market solutions.

Another – European – case study will soon be launched in southern Spain. At the same time, the efficiency and therefore also the costs of currently available processes for the production of sustainable energy sources are to be significantly improved. As a center of research and technology, Switzerland can make an important contribution to solving the global climate problem.