The bioethanol market - Spain (2024)

1.2 The global market

In terms of production of all types of biofuels combined (***), in **** the United States will be the world's leading producer, with an output of *** thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. They are followed by Brazil, with *** thousand barrels per day, and Indonesia, producing *** thousand barrels per day. China ranks fourth with ** thousand barrels per day, closely followed by Germany with ** thousand barrels per day. Argentina, India and the Netherlands stand at **, ** and ** thousand barrels per day respectively. Thailand and France close the ranking with production of ** and ** thousand barrels per day respectively.

World ranking of leading biofuels producers World, ****, thousands of barrels of oil equivalent per day Source: ****

The global bioethanol market is estimated at $**.* billion in ****, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of *.*% to ****.

Global bioethanol market size World, **** - ****, in $ billions Source: Markets and Markets Against a backdrop of depleting energy resources and the promotion of renewable energies, notably through the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(***), the biofuels market, including of course bioethanol, is expected to grow at an ever-increasing pace. Technological advances and increased research into the production of ethanol from algae, thanks to their rapid production rate and natural presence in the sea, should ...

1.3 The domestic market

Between **** and ****, the bioethanol industry's contribution to Spanish GDP (***) showed an upward trend, despite some fluctuations. In ****, bioethanol contributed **.* million euros. This contribution rose steadily to reach ***.* million euros in **** and a peak of ***.* million euros in ****. However, in ****, the contribution dropped to ***.* million euros. In ****, it fell slightly to ***.* million euros, and in ****, it remained stable at ***.* million euros. By comparison, the biodiesel sector had a much higher contribution, peaking at ***.* million euros in **** before declining to ***.* million euros in ****. Overall, biofuels contributed ***.* million euros in ****, peaking at ***.* million euros in ****, then falling to ***.* million euros in ****. Spain is now the world's *th largest bioethanol producer[***].

Real contributions to Spanish GDP (***) from the biofuels sector Spain, ****-****, millions of euros (***) Source: ****

However, the graph below shows a clear preference for diesel consumption in Spain; Gasoil A, being diesel for household automotive consumption, B for agricultural and marine machinery, C for heating.

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Thus, in ****, total oil consumption in Spain amounted to **.*** million tonnes, divided between various types of fuel. Gasoil A dominates with **.*** million tons, followed by aviation kerosene at *.*** million tons and unleaded gasoline ** (***) at *.*** million tons. Other fuel oils and other gasoils account for *.*** and *.*** million tonnes respectively. ...

1.4 Imports and exports

In order to study the trade balance of Spanish ethanol production, we will use the classification established by the United Nations for international trade data. This product belongs to the UN Comtrade category: HS ******: "Ethyl alcohol and other denatured spirits" or "Ethyl alcohol and other denatured spirits".

Between **** and ****, Spain's ethanol trade balance has seen significant variations. Ethanol exports rose from $*.** million in **** to a peak of $**.** million in ****, before dropping slightly to $**.** million in **** (***). Imports, meanwhile, fluctuated significantly, rising from $**.** million in **** to a peak of $***.** million in ****, after a notable drop in **** to $**.** million. The trade balance, which was in deficit by $*.** million in ****, reached a record deficit of $**.** million in ****. However, Spain recordedtrade surpluses in **** and ****, with surpluses of $**.** million and $**.** million respectively, mainly due to increased exports and a temporary reduction in imports. Main trends : Market development: imports and exports increased by ***% and ***% respectively between **** and ****. Trade balance volatility: The trade balance has oscillated between deficits and surpluses. The new trend since **** is a widening of the latter, with a reduction of ***.** million euros between the **** surplus and the **** deficit.

Spanish bioethanol trade balance Spain and the world, ****-****, in $ millions Source: ****

In ****, Spanish ethanol exports were ...

1.6 Reasons for the non-development of the bioethanol sector in Spain :

According to the Spanish Bioethanol Association (***), the bioethanol sector in Spain is sclerotic due to government decisions that work against the market, for the following reasons:

High taxation:

Taxes on bioethanol in Spain are among the highest in Europe, far exceeding those on diesel and gasoline. This makes bioethanol much more expensive for consumers. Despite the support of the Confederation of Service Station Entrepreneurs (***) for renewable fuels like E**, the high cost of taxes makes these options unattractive. For example, in **** in France, to support the development of bioethanol, the government introduced a *% tax on E**, making it cost *.*-*.* euros a liter compared with *.*-*.* euros a liter for gasoline. [***]

Negative messages from the Government:

The Spanish government has sent unfavorable signals to first-generation biofuels, introducing decreasing blending targets. This has crippled the biofuels market, as second-generation biofuels are not yet widely available. What's more, the lack of support for the sector over the past ** years has discouraged the investment needed to develop new technologies. The Spanish government's argument is that it wants to safeguard the country's food security, to avoid an inflation of arable land that could substitute the cultivation of food crops for bioethanol production.

Opposition from major ...

2.1 A weak domestic market

Between **** and ****, total bioethanol consumption in Spain fluctuated widely. It is mainly due to the consumption of fuels low in bioethanol, i.e. SP** and SP** gasolina enriched with *% ethanol. In ****, consumption was up **.**% on ****. In ****, it rose by a further **.**% on ****. However, in ****, there was a drop of **.**% compared to ****. In ****, consumption dropped significantly by **.**% compared with ****. In ****, there was a slight increase of *.**% on ****. In ****, consumption continued to rise, recording an increase of **.**% on ****. Over the whole period from **** to ****, bioethanol consumption in Spain decreased overall by **.**%. bioethanol consumption here is mainly linked to the ethanol incorporated into SP** and SP** gasolines, which are now enriched with *% ethanol.

Total bioethanol consumption in Spain Spain, ****-****, thousands of tons Source: ****

Between **** and ****, bioethanol's actual market share in terms of energy in Spain showed a downward trend. In ****, bioethanol accounted for *.*% of the market, rising slightly to *.*% in **** and peaking at *.*% in ****. However, from **** onwards, its share fell, dropping to *.*%, then to *.*% in ****. A slight recovery was seen in **** with a share of *.*%, but in ****, bioethanol's market share reached its lowest level of the period at *.*%. In comparison, biodiesel fluctuated, with a general upward trend until ****, before declining slightly in subsequent ...

2.2 More than 10% bioethanol consumption

In its statistics,the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados Y de la Compentencia (***).

Between **** and ****, bioethanol consumption (***), but dropped rapidly to *** mt in **** and even more drastically to *** mt in ****. This downward trend continued, reaching *** Tm in **** and just *** Tm in ****. In ****, consumption fell further to ** Tm, with a low point of ** Tm in ****. However, a notable recovery took place in **** with consumption of *** Tm, and this upward trend continued in **** with *** Tm. Consumption fell again in **** to *** Tm, and reached a low of ** Tm in **** and ** Tm in ****. In ****, a slight recovery was observed with consumption of ** Tm.

Bioethanol consumption trends in Spain Spain, ****-****, (***) Source: ****

In ****, fuel consumption for cars in Spain will be dominated by diesel, which accounts for **.**% of total consumption. Unleaded ** gasoline (***) has a *.**% share. Biofuels have a marginal share in this breakdown, with biodiesel accounting for just *.**% and bioethanol for barely *.****%. This shows the high dependence of Spanish consumers on traditional fossil fuels, with very limited uptake of biofuel alternatives.

Consumption of automotive fuels in Spain Spain, ****, % of total Source: ****

In ****, the breakdown of biofuels in Spain shows an overwhelming dominance of biodiesel over bioethanol (***) makes up just *.**%. This breakdown indicates that the Spanish ...

3.1 Value chain

Source: ****

The value chain above summarizes the main methods used to produce bioethanol, right up to its incorporation into gasoline. corn, wheat and beet are in fact the three main raw materials used in the making of bioethanol (***).

3.2 Market structure

As a market sclerotised by government decisions, the structure of the bioethanol market is not developing in Spain. There are * plants focusing primarily on bioethanol production. a further * plants occasionally produce bioethanol, but their production is so marginal that it is not included in the statistics compiled by APPA Renovables. Despite this , bioethanol production is set to rise between **** and **** (***).

Trend in number of bioethanol plants and production in Spain Spain, ****-****, number, thousands of tons Source: ****

The * bioethanol plants in Spain are located near the cities of A Coruña, Salamanca, Cartagena and Ciudad Real. With the exception of the Ciudad Real plant, the other * manufacturers belong to the Vertex Bioenergy Group. The names of the plants and their sales figures are detailed in the Segmentation section (***) of this study.

Between **** and ****, the evolution of direct and indirect jobs in Spain's bioethanol sector showed notable variations. In ****, direct employment stood at *,*** thousand, gradually increasing to *,*** thousand in ****. However, a drop was observed in ****, when the number of direct jobs fell to *,*** thousand, and it remained relatively stable at around *,*** thousand until ****, with a slight decrease to *,*** thousand in ****. Indirect employment also followed a similar trend, rising from *,*** thousand in **** to ...

3.3 Distribution

In ****, Spain's gasoline distribution network was mainly made up of independent outlets, accounting for **.**% of the total. The REPSOL Group held **.**% of outlets, followed by the CEPSA Group with **.**%. BP OIL ESPAÑA S.A. owned *.**% of distribution outlets, while GALP ENERGÍA ESPAÑA S.A. controlled *.**%. DISA PENINSULA, S.L.U owned *.**% of outlets, and the other operators collectively represented *.**% of the network.

Gasoline distribution network in Spain Spain, ****, % Source: ****

A weak distribution network for ethanol-based biofuels:

In Spain, of the **,*** service stations in existence in ****[***], only a certain number will offer ethanol biofuels in ****. ** offer E**-E** petrol, which contains up to **% ethanol, while ** service stations offer E**-E** petrol. Finally, only * service stations distribute E** ethanol, which contains **% pure ethanol. Despite Spain's well-developed distribution network, the distribution of biofuels is underdeveloped, accounting for a very limited share of supply.

Number of service stations offering biofuels Spain, ****, number Source: ****

4.1 The different generations of Bioethanol

Bioethanol is one of the biofuels produced from biomass, which includes raw materials of plant, animal or waste origin. Biofuels, derived from biomass, are used for energy in transport and heating. mainly used as additives to fossil fuels, they are divided into three generations based on biomass origin and transformation processes. the first generation is already industrialized, while the second is under development. Regulations distinguish between conventional biofuels, made from feedstocks that compete with food, and advanced biofuels, made from other feedstocks[***].

Conventional biofuels are limited to *% of the energy content of fuels. There are two main biofuel production methods, one for "gasoline" type biofuels and the other for "diesel" type biofuels.

In Spain, the production of ethanol of agricultural origin, or bioethanol, is based mainly on the use of sugar beet and cereals such as wheat and corn (***). It is referred to as first-generation bioethanol because it is produced from raw materials that are also consumed by humans as part of their diet. Some wine-making residues, such as grape marc and wine lees, can also be used. The production process involves transforming the sugars contained in these plants via industrial fermentation, producing alcohol which is then distilled and dehydrated to ...

4.2 Offer type and price

Gasoline on offer in Spain:

In addition to diesels, the following table lists all types of petrol available in Spain. All fuels are enriched with a minimum of *% ethanol.

Source: ****

E** prices:

In addition to being rare, as it is only available at * service stations in Spain, E** is also a very expensive fuel. Estimated at *.**€/liter in June ****, its price has always been higher than *€/liter in **** due to high taxation.

E** price trends in Spain Spain, ****-****, €/liter Source: ****

E-** price

In June ****, the price of E-** was estimated at €*.***/liter for SP**-E** and €*.***/liter for SP**-E**.

Average E-** prices in June **** in Spain Spain, June ****, €/liter Source: ****

Average prices for other fuels:

Between January **** and April ****, fuel prices in Spain showed marked variations. The cheapest fuel is biodiesel, starting at €*.**/liter in January ****, peaking at €*.**/liter in July ****, then falling back to €*.**/liter in April ****. Slightly more expensive diesel started at €*.**/liter in January ****, peaking at €*.**/liter in July ****, and stabilizing at €*.**/liter in April ****. SP/**-E* gasoline fluctuated between €*.**/liter in January **** and a peak of €*.**/liter in July ****, ending at €*.**/liter in April ****. Finally, SP/**-E* gasoline, the most expensive fuel, started at €*.**/liter ...

5.1 A law sclerosing the market while awaiting the development of second-generation bioethanols :

order TED/****/**** of December **, **** is the text sclerosing the *st generation bioethanol sector in Spain. Its main aim is to prevent the development of bioethanol-related crops in order to preserve the country's food security, while awaiting the arrival of second-generation biofuels. The regulations are in line with Spanish law and European directives aimed at promoting renewable energies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and this ordinance updates and clarifies existing provisions, notably Real Decreto ****/**** and its subsequent amendments.

The most important point of this text is the table below:

Limitation on biofuels based on food and feed crops:

from ****, biofuels produced from food and feed crops must not exceed specific percentages:

This target means that it is impossible to develop this market in Spain.

6.1 Segmentation

• Repsol
• CEPSA
• Groupe Vertex Bioenergy
• Groupe Vertex Bioenergy
• Groupe Vertex Bioenergy
• Internacional De Alcoholes Sa
• Azucarera del Guadalfeo