Bioethanol plant fires back up for business

A £350M bioethanol plant in Hull has now reopened after a fourmonth shutdown.

Vivergo closed its facility which can produce up to 420m litres of bioethanol made with feed wheat from nearly 900 farms across East Yorkshire, partly due to the Government’s “inaction” on the future of renewable fuels and “unfavourable” trading conditions.

Over the coming months, it is hoped that conditions will improve following a parliamentary move that comes into effect later this month to increase the use of renewable fuels in transport from 4.75 per cent to a target of 9.75 per cent by 2020.

Mark Chesworth, managing director of Vivergo Fuels, said: “This step, combined with the completion of maintenance work, has prompted us to recommence production after being offline over the winter period. However, there is much still to do if we are to sustain production and maintain this significant industry in the UK.”

He said the bioethanol industry now wants the Government to introduce E10 fuel by the end of the year. E10 is blend of 10 per cent renewable bioethanol with petrol which can lower emissions from vehicles. It is commonly used across North America, Europe and Australasia.

The bioethanol industry claim that by introducing it in the UK would be the carbon emissions savings equivalent to taking 700,000 cars off the road.