The economical and environmental benefits of greening up petrol have been flagged up to government.
Biofuels are being explored as Net Zero commitments loom large, with the Humber home to the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s largest bioethanol plant, mothballed due to delays in target implementation.
Now the Department for Transport is consulting on use, with a strong case put forward.
Welcomed at the launch, and now formally responding to the ask, the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership has advised E10 use - as it is known -Â would not only have a positive environmental impact, but could also help the Humber economy to grow.
Hull-based Vivergo Fuels employed more than 150 people and supported many farms in the region, but the £350 million plant stopped producing in late 2018, with legislative uncertainty high on the reasoning.
Richard Royal, Humber LEP’s energy programme manager, said: “The Humber LEP is fully supportive of the call for E10, which offers a quick and easy option to lower vehicle emissions whilst also supporting our local industry and agriculture.
“The Humber has higher than average transport emissions but many families are not in a position to buy electric vehicles and as such our region’s EV ownership rate is around half the national average. Even with Government plans to end the sale of fossil fuelled vehicles, we will still have them on the road into the 2050s and need a way to lower their emissions in this interim period. The use of low carbon renewable fuels such as bioethanol is ideal for this and requires no behavioural change from motorists – just pick up the pump and fill your car as normal, but the fuel is greener.
“The mothballing of Vivergo was also a blow to the local economy and had a knock-on impact for jobs and skills, farming supply chains and º£½ÇÊÓƵ self-sufficiency. If the introduction of E10 can also be a step towards potentially getting the plant back up-and-running, we are keen to support this.â€
Locally, bioethanol is made mostly from low-grade wheat which wouldn’t be suitable for human consumption. A by-product is animal feed which also supports the local economy and reduces imports. As a low-carbon renewable fuel it can be blended with petrol to reduce emissions.
The Humber LEP’s energy strategy, released in February, identifies supporting biofuels and decarbonising transport as key projects.
Two of the five road fuel-producing oil refineries are also on the South Humber Bank.
E10 would mean up to 10 per cent of the petrol at º£½ÇÊÓƵ fuel stations would be bioethanol, pre-blended to displace the fossil fuel. Many countries in Europe, North and South America already have E10 or above, whereas º£½ÇÊÓƵ only has E5, leaving us with higher transport emissions than elsewhere. Change would cut emissions equivalent to taking 700,000 cars off the road.
The Humber LEP has called for a decision to be made by the Department for Transport as soon as possible for the most positive impact for the Humber region.
The Saltend plant, owned by AB Sugar, had operated for 11 years, with intermittent periods of production halting.
At March’s consultation launch, Dr Mark Carr, group chief executive at AB Sugar, said: “The launch of the E10 consultation has not changed our position on the operation of our Vivergo plant. Having said that, at the point of closing production we based this on three factors: the ethanol price, the input (wheat) price and certainty of future demand determined by the mandating of E10.
“Any decision to reopen would need to consider the market conditions at the time and these three factors would need to be met. The mandating of E10 is crucial to driving market demand, and only once this is in place can we consider reopening alongside the other two factors.â€
