Põllumajandusministeeriumi ja Maaelu ... - bioenergybaltic

investment into a plant with the capacity of 300,000 litres/day is 40 – 50 MEEK depending on
the availability of infrastructure.
In the United States where bioethanol is produced from corn, both the raw material cost and
roduction cost are significantly lower than in Germany.
So far global market similar to the market of oil products has not developed for bioethanol yet.
Diverse raw material is used for the production of bioethanol, the price of which depends on
the land cost and labour cost, the applied agrotechnological solutions and subsidies, etc.
Table 0.1. The grain production in Estonia, thousands of tons
Year 2003 2004 2005 2006
Production 505.7 608.1 760.1 619.3
Source: Ministry of Agriculture
A big bioethanol plant with the low production cost and capacity of 150 – 200 million
litres/year consumes about 420 – 550 thousand tons of grain a year. At the same time there
exist favourable selling potentials for the byproduct cake. According to the Statistical Office,
in Estonia 479,691 tons of grain a year was used for fodder in 2005 – 2006.
Bioethanol is a high octane number fuel with a high detonation reliability. Ethanol is also used
for the production of the fuel additive ETBE that improves the petrol octane number. Ethanol
can be blended in any ratio with petrol. The oxygen in its molecule allows low-temperature
combustion without any residue and decreases the emission of CO, unburnt hydrocarbons
(HC) and NO x . The steam pressure of bioethanol that is lower than that of petrol provides
smaller evaporation loss when stored. The high evaporation heat of ethanol and lower energy
content than that of petrol (the calorific value of one litre of ethanol makes 69% of petrol)
allows using the fuel that mainly contains ethanol only in specially designed engines. The new
cars with the so-called flexible fuel use can be run with the blend of up to 85% of ethanol.
For the fuels with high energy content, the corrosion resistant materials and ethanol resistant
plastic and elastic components must be used in engines. Thus the engine run on ethanol is
more expensive. The petrol with up to 10% ethanol additive can be used without readjusting
the engine. For the majority of motor vehicle manufacturers the manufacturer’s warranty will
also remain effective when such a fuel is used. Some motor vehicle manufacturers do not
allow even a small quantity of ethanol additive.
Biodiesel fuel
Diesel fuel is the most widespread fuel in Europe. In 2004 the diesel-to-petrol ratio was 1.4 in
25 EU countries; in Estonia (light fuel oil and diesel fuel) 1.9. The data of Estonian Motor
Vehicle Registration Centre ARK show that 26% of motor vehicles use diesel fuel. In Europe
the main source of biodiesel fuels is rapeseed oil, the purchase price of which defines the price
of the final product for 75%.
The production of liquid fuels in Estonia is in the starting phase. The Biodiesel Paldiski AS
where large scale production with the capacity of 100,000 tons/year is planned is under
construction. By March 2, 2007 11 licences for biofuel production were granted and to
October 1, 2006 49,027,781 kg of biofuel (biodiesel) had been produced in Estonia of which
85% was exported.
According to the newspaper Äripäev as of September 2007, small biodiesel producers had
suspended their production to September 2007. However, they expect to launch their
production anew supported by the increasing excise tax.
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