New Bioethanol plant for Yorkshire
woensdag, 28 april 2010
Yorkshire is continuing to lead the ‘green’ fuels sector with the construction of a new bioethanol plant.
Nearly a thousand jobs will be created when work on the facility in Grimsby begins. The plant, which will be operated by green fuels group Vireol, will use wheat to deliver three main products - a Renewable Transport Fuel (RTF), a high protein animal feed and liquefied CO2 for use in the food and drink industry.
The wheat used by Vireol is feed wheat quality that has traditionally been fed direct to animals or exported. However, all protein in the wheat will be extracted and fed to animals.
European demand for biofuels has been driven by the Renewable Transport Fuels Order (RTFO) 2007.
Since April 2008, this has required blending of biofuels with fossil starting at a level of 2.5%. From next month it rises to 3.25% and reaches 5% by 2013.
Fossil fuel suppliers face penalties of 30p per litre if they do not comply.
Vireol has pre-sold all the outputs from its plant and has recently agreed terms for a 15-year off-take agreement for its CO2 by-product with a major gas supplier to the food and drinks market.
It has also agreed with a major global investment bank the sale of the first 10 years of RTF production, while a global animal feeds business will buy the high-protein by-product.
The business is backed by Future Capital Partners - the £6bn alternative investment boutique - which has acquired the Grimsby site and planning permission for the industrial scale plant.
The renewable energy sector now contributes around £1.8bn to the region’s economy. Yorkshire is the only region with an agreed target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2016. It is estimated that meeting national targets for renewable will stimulate up to £20bn of new investment in the UK and install 2,000MW of new generating capacity.
The region is already the UK’s largest supplier of recycled glass and has the largest single-line biodiesel production facility. Around 50% of the country’s developable off-shore wind is on off the Humber Estuary. More than 14,000 people in 500 companies are employed in the sector. Between them, they generate sales in excess of £2bn and are helping Yorkshire to play a major role in emerging domestic markets, currently estimated at £18bn.
David Knibbs, chief executive of Vireol, said: "The environmental benefit of this project will equate to removing over 60,000 cars from the road every year. In addition, the fuels we produce will help to reduce the UK's reliance on imported oil. Our plant will be the latest of only three in this country.
"Bioethanol produced in the UK has all the credentials to be a real success story and an industry in which we can lead the way in Europe."