UK wheat bioethanol plant a boost for the industry

The NFU has welcomed the announcement that all the necessary funding has been secured to build the UK’s first large-scale wheat bioethanol plant.


Ensus has announced it has secured the financing to build its plant on Teesside, which will be operational in 2009.


The plant will have the capacity to produce over 400 million litres of bioethanol a year and will use around 1.2 million tonnes of wheat locally sourced through Glencore Grain UK.


Arthur Hill, NFU combinable crops board chairman, said the announcement was a real boost for the domestic biofuels industry, following on from the recent EU agreement for mandatory ten per cent targets for biofuel usage in transport by 2020.


He said: “To hear that a major bioethanol facility is to be built in the UK is excellent news. This will open up new markets and give farmers the opportunity to make a real contribution to reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change.


“We have enough land to grow the crops needed to meet both our food and fuel requirements and the use of local crops for this project will cut down on the environmental impact of transport, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help restore some balance to grain markets.”

Need a contractor?

Find one now