Europe’s largest wheat refinery is set to open in Wilton, Teeside, providing a major boost to the UK biofuels market.
The refinery, which is going through its final testing requirements, will produce one third of the UK's total bioethanol needs when it opens later this month. It will do this by converting 1.2 million tonnes of locally grown, animal feed wheat into 400 million litres of bioethanol a year.
Bioethanol is an alcohol produced from organic biomass such as sugar, wheat or maize, and represents over 80 per cent of global biofuel production.
The Ensus Group, which raised £250 million to build the Teeside refinery, says it has been constructed in response to UK and EU targets to reduce carbon emissions from road transport. The UK requires a proportion of all petrol and diesel sold in the UK should come from renewable sources, and this target will rise to five per cent over the next few years.
Bioethanol is biodegradable and non-toxic alternative to fossil fuel that can be blended for use in any petrol engine car without modification.
Ensus says the refinery has been designed according to strict sustainability criteria. Producing biofuels from protein crops such as animal feed delivers greenhouse gas emission savings because the crops absorb CO2 when they are grown, while, the plant will use low carbon heat and power produced on site.
Ensus claim that the plant will support up to 2,000 jobs in agriculture and transport. It will also produce 350,000 tonnes of high protein animal feed, which Ensus says"‘will reduce European demand for soy meal imports that contribute to high levels of deforestation in South America".
Alwyn Hughes, ceo of Ensus, described the wheat refinery as a "beacon of hope for the area. We’re creating an industry for the future, and this is world-scale in proportion."
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