BOSSES will press the ‘big green button’ on the long-awaited Ensus bioethanol plant on Monday.
Ensus bioethanol plant
The £300m Wilton facility - the largest wheat biorefinery in the world - has been beset by delays ranging from Arctic weather conditions to sympathy strikes by construction workers, which were unrelated to the Ensus project.
The super-green plant will produce low carbon bioethanol for transport fuel, a valuable animal feed and for the drinks industry. It will use 1.2 million tonnes of surplus wheat a year, without impacting on food crops.
Speaking at agricultural supplier Farmway’s Arable Conference in Northallerton yesterday, Ensus wheat and animal feed manager Stewart Easdon said the ‘big green button’ would be pressed on Monday.
“Ensus will change the dynamics of wheat growing for the North-east, this region will be better placed than most,” he added. “We want to get the message out that we will benefit the entire farming chain.”
A second similarly-sized biorefinery by consortium Vivergo, made up of BP, British Sugar and DuPont, will bring more opportunities for North-east farmers when it comes online later this year in Hull.
Scores of agricultural delegates, including Tees Valley farmers, crowded into Farmway’s conference at Romanby Golf Club to hear about the new Ensus plant.
Arable farmer Alan Petch, from Winley Hill Farm at Great Ayton, is hoping to supply Ensus.
He said: “It’s a marvellous opportunity so it’s good to know it’s coming online. Pressure is growing on farmers to reduce carbon. Our products were being exported, now there’s an outlet on our doorstep. It won’t affect food markets because we are predominantly producers of animal feed.”
Speaker Dave Towse, from Billingham fertiliser manufacturers GrowHow UK, said: “Gordon Brown has said we need to have sustainable agriculture, but we have to increase productivity by 50% by 2030. If we are to feed nine billion people, something has to change.
“There are strong environmental drivers behind GrowHow’s £15m investment at Billingham to increase production. We are working closely with Defra and the Environment Agency to tick the boxes.”
Peter Hull, CEO of Farmway, said: “There’s a general thirst for knowledge among farmers, who recognise the industry is changing. Farmway isn’t just about selling seeds and fertiliser, by holding events like this we can add real value.”
Farmway’s computer programme - Farming Footprints - is helping to measure emissions throughout the biofuels supply chain.
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