German Bioethanol producers supply raw material for disinfectants

According to German Bioethanol Industry Association (Bundesverband der deutschen Bioethanolwirtschaft - BDBe), there is a secure supply of ethanol as a raw material for the production of disinfectants. Special regulations issued by the authorities in recent days permit the use of technical bioethanol to make the sanitisers needed. With this step, Germany is following a recent recommendation from the WHO to ease the manufacturing requirements so that the chemical industry and pharmacies can expand production on site. Up to now bioethanol has been sold mainly in the fuel sector.

Norbert Schindler, Chairman of the BDBe: “Thanks to these changes, our companies can now provide bioethanol as a raw material for disinfectants in the quantities so urgently needed to protect health. This is good news for the supply of our nursing and healthcare system given the current corona crisis.”

Sustainable bioethanol is produced for various uses: for cosmetics, beverages and in the medical sector as well as technical alcohols as cleaning or antifreeze agents and as a climate-friendly admixture to petrol. The production capacity of German plants is around two million litres of bioethanol per day. Capacities for the production of high-purity neutral alcohol are exhausted throughout Europe. “The German producers of bioethanol are now able and willing to flexibly provide the required quantities of alcohol for the production of disinfectants,” concluded Schindler.

You can find an overview of German and Austrian bioethanol plants here.
 

The German Bioethanol Industry Association represents the interests of the biofuel sector's member companies and associations, spanning agricultural production of the raw materials all the way to industrial production and processing of bioethanol and all by-products. Co-products include DDGS, CDS, biogenic carbonic acid, gluten, yeast, biomethane and organic fertilisers. For fuel uses, beverages or industry, bioethanol with different classifications is produced from feed grain, sugar beet or biogenic waste and residues. In Germany, the types of petrol currently available at petrol stations contain between 5% and 10% certified sustainable bioethanol.

Contact: Stefan Walter
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