The agreement between the UK and USA on trade tariffs may be good news for the car industry, but is disastrous for the UK’s bioethanol industry and the wider supply chains that it supports.
Already battered by over-regulation and poor decision-making by various different UK government departments, the decision to allow USA bioethanol into the UK tariff-free is going to have catastrophic consequences for the UK industry.
This decision has major repercussions not just for the staff at the 2 large UK bioethanol plants who now face a very uncertain future, but for the wider supply chains that these plants support. They are a major buyer in the north east of England for feed wheat, which will have a direct impact on farmers in that region; and also produce animal feed which many livestock farmers rely on and which provides a home-grown alternative to imported soya-based feeds.
Ensus is also considered to be critical national infrastructure as it is the only large-scale food-grade CO2 capture plant in the UK, and this trade deal will have put a similar project to capture CO2 at Vivergo at risk. Without this we will be entirely dependent on imports of CO2 which is used widely not just in the food manufacturing industry; but also in nuclear power stations and by the NHS.
Without domestic bioethanol, all UK petrol supplied will need to be blended with a minimum of 5.5% imported bioethanol instead (to comply with the EN228 standard). Any change in future USA bioethanol availability could then leave the UK with serious fuel security issues if our industry has already closed.
This is an appalling deal for our industry, challenging UK ambitions for green industrial capability and very short-sighted of the negotiators from HM Government who agreed it.
See the joint statement by Paul Kenward, Chief Executive, ABF Sugar, and Grant Pearson, Chairman, Ensus – The UK must not trade away its strategically vital bioethanol industry
