What is ethanol?
Markets and applications
There are two markets for ethanol in Europe – Biofuels uses (over 70% of EU production) and Industrial uses. The main difference is that Industrial ethanol requires additional distillation and purification steps bringing the quality to the high standards of industrial users. Industrial applications include important and strategic industries such as:
Pharmaceutical manufacture
Hand Sanitizers and surface disinfectants
Cosmetics and toiletries
Detergents and cleaning products
Perfumes
Spirits
Printing inks
Paints and coatings
Screenwash and deicers for the automotive industry
Production of important chemical intermediates, such as for polymers and plastics
Vinegar Manufacture
Flavors manufacture
These, and other downstream industries depend upon industrial ethanol to ensure safety, comfort, and convenience to consumers’ everyday lives.
Industrial ethanol can be made from fermentation of agricultural raw material or from hydration of ethylene, the latter being then used exclusively for non human consumption applications.
Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development concerns wealth generation, social harmony and environmental protection. Its most widely accepted definition is ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.
European industrial ethanol is important because it helps to ensure security of supplies for vital downstream user industries, and can be manufactured using a variety of raw material feedstocks.