The future of renewable fuels in Switzerland
At the Power-to-X Days in Schlieren, experts from business, science and politics discussed the future of renewable fuels in Switzerland. The development of Power-to-X requires close cooperation and suitable framework conditions. Regional and national initiatives are driving development forward.
Switzerland is lagging behind countries such as Germany in the use of renewable energies for the production of fuels. However, with its companies and research institutions working in this field, it is well positioned to catch up. This was the conclusion of the two Power-to-X Days at the JED in Schlieren, which were organized by the Swiss Power-to-X Collaborative Innovation Network(SPIN), Avenergy Suisse and Swissmem. Around 140 representatives from business, science and politics, including Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and Zurich Government Councillor Carmen Walker Späh, spoke about the possibilities of scaling up Power-to-X production.
The participants pointed out that the development of Power-to-X is dependent on cooperation between industry, the financial sector and research and requires the right framework conditions. “Industry can do its part, but the market launch of new technologies cannot happen without universities and the financial world on board,” said Patrik Meli, Co-President of SPIN, according to a blog post on the first day of the event.
Markus Bareit, hydrogen project manager at the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, referred to the hydrogen strategy for Switzerland, which the Federal Council intends to adopt in the coming weeks. The canton of Zurich, for its part, is planning a competence center for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Synhelion co-founder Philipp Furler pointed out that the proportion of SAF is to be increased fifty-fold by 2035. Regional initiatives are also part of the transformation, such as the Association for the Decarbonization of Industry in Zug and the hydrogen bus that has been running in Brugg AG since March.
According to a press release from SPIN, the results of the discussions will be prepared and published in the coming weeks.