Two UK ethanol plants announced; will supply 33 percent of English ethanol

In England, Future Capital announced plans to raise $275 million for construction of two wheat ethanol plant in Grimsby and Teeside, with a planned capacity of 95 Mgy, or one-third of projected English ethanol demand.

The UK government has established a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which takes effect in April 2008. The Obligation mandates that, by 2010, five per cent of all fuel sold in the UK must be from renewable sources. A number of ethanol projects have been announced as a result of the RFO, including a project in Wilton and a British Sugar/BP joint venture near Hull.

In England, a jatropha-based biodiesel plant has been proposed for the Rookery Business Park in Besthorpe (Nottinghamshire), and an application for a land use variance has been submitted with local authorities. The developers did not disclose plant capacity, but said they would obtain jatropha oil from suppliers in India and Africa, and supply biodiesel to the market in the 90-95p range, a 15 percent savings over current petroleum diesel prices.

This was the first reported plant development since December, when Goes on Green announced that it had entered the first permitting stage for a 51 Mgy biodiesel plant in North Shields. The $61.4 million Goes On Green project have an initial capacity of 8 Mgy and increase to full capacity in 36 months.

The Government recently revised its costs and carbon savings from the proposed implementation of the RTFO. The cost has risen 87% to $760 per ton of carbon emission saved based on an estimated carbon savings of 700,000-800,000 tonnes. The RTFO imposes a 2.5 percent biofuel mandate in 2008, increasing to 5 percent in 2010.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Russia’s Biotekhnologia partners with PetroVietnam for sugarcane, cassava, rice waste ethanol plant

In Vietnam, Biotekhnologia announced hat it will partner with PetroVietnam and Metropol to develop a 100,000 tonne ethanol plant in Vietnam, using cassava, rice byproducts and sugar cane as feedstock...

Energy Grains Biomass announced a multi-year agreement to supply corn stover to NextStep Biofuels; will operate two ethanol plants in its own right

In Nebraska, Energy Grains Biomass announced a multi-year agreement to supply corn stover and other cellulosic ethanol feedstock to NextStep Biofuels. EGB, which is also investigating the aggregation ...

China car maker achieves breakthrough on hydrous ethanol; alternative to ethanol costs 60 percent less to produce

In China, Dongfeng Motor has successfully demonstrated the use of hydrous ethanol in its automobiles. The company says that use of hydrous ethanol, containing 65 percent ethanol, would save 60 percent...

PetroVietnam Technical Services receives $60 million construction contract for 22 Mgy cassava ethanol plant

In Vietnam, PetroVietnam Technical Service has been awarded the $60 million engineering and services contracts for the Dung Quat ethanol plant in the central province of Quang Ngai. Under the contract...

China Academy of Sciences, BP ink $3 million research deal; BP China research team to work in China’s Energy Innovation Lab

The Chinese Academy of Sciences' Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) announced that BP will provide $3 million to support the Energy Innovation Lab which focuses on clean energy. The BP China ...

Pursuit Dynamics to supply four PDX Ethanol reactors to Babcock & Brown plants; royalty model based on yield improvements

In California, Pursuit Dynamics announced an agreement with Babcock and Brown to supply its PDX Ethanol Reactor technology at four plants where B&B is majority investor. The agreements provide roy...