Ensus Welcomes Government Support for Sustainable Biofuels

London - Ensus, the company building Europe’s largest biorefinery in the North East of England, welcomed the release of a Government report showing that biofuels can be produced sustainably and calling for efforts to ensure that “good” biofuels are supported as part of the UK’s strategy to promote renewable energy.

“We particularly welcome the Gallagher review’s recognition of the importance of the protein co-products” said Alwyn Hughes, Chief Executive of Ensus. “Producing food alongside fuel in the same process greatly reduces the amount of land required for biofuels - increasing the efficiency of the food supply chain and alleviating pressure on deforestation through reduced requirements for imports of soy.”

“However, we are very concerned at the suggestion of backtracking on existing commitments under the RTFO. We think this is unnecessary when sustainable production can already be achieved. Such a move would only serve to jeopardise the industry’s ability to deliver the substantial benefits that are possible. Furthermore this runs the risk of frightening off the very investment in renewable energy that the Government is relying on to meet their own climate change targets.”

“What the Gallagher study shows is that, produced in the right way, biofuels offer a clear and compelling opportunity to take positive action not only in the battle against climate change, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport, but also in improving energy security for the UK, by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

“This is particularly valid for bioethanol, where the UK has projects underway or planned to achieve the 5% bioethanol in petrol target by 2011. However, we recognise the greater challenge in meeting the 5% biodiesel target in a sustainable way, given the nature and sources of the feedstocks available.”

“We think that the Government is absolutely right to focus on sustainability and, in the case of Ensus, what we produce are sustainable biofuels. The bioethanol we supply will deliver carbon savings in the order of 70% relative to the fossil fuels displaced. Furthermore, all of the protein from the wheat feedstock is conserved and recycled straight back into the food chain, thus ensuring none of it is ‘lost’. Our model means it’s not about food vs. fuel. It’s food and fuel.”

“Climate change is a very real and very serious threat and one where action must be taken now. The Government itself has acknowledged that there can be little prospect of meeting the carbon reduction and renewable energy targets the UK has committed to without a meaningful contribution from sustainable biofuels. Instead of encouraging a “go slow” approach, we therefore need to press ahead quickly to actively promote a sustainable biofuels industry in both the UK and Europe.”

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Ensus
The Ensus biorefinery on Teesside is expected to be completed mid 2009. Once operational it will produce approximately 400 million litres of sustainable bioethanol and 350,000 tonnes of high protein wheat concentrate for animal feed. Ensus will produce enough bioethanol to meet around one third of the requirement under the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. As a result the Ensus contribution will be equivalent to taking more than 300,000 cars off UK roads.
www.ensusgroup.com

Gallagher Review
The RFA review on the indirect impacts of biofuels was commissioned in February 2008 by the Department for Transport and has been led by RFA Chairman Professor Ed Gallagher, consulting with scientists and experts from around the world. The study has focused on the indirect effects of biofuels with respect to land use change, greenhouse gas savings, international food prices and food security.
www.dft.gov.uk/rfa/

Bioethanol
Sustainably produced bioethanol is a renewable and environmentally friendly alternative for petrol driven vehicles. It is produced using agricultural crops as the raw material. Due to the carbon dioxide absorbed by the crops as they grow, use of bioethanol as a transport fuel results in a substantial net carbon saving relative to the oil-based alternative.

Food Prices
A number of recent expert reports have concluded that biofuels have had a relatively minor impact on global food prices. These reports include:

(i) Ed Schafer, US Department of Agriculture (3 June 2008): “We are anticipating this year an over 40 percent increase in food price inflation globally, [of which] two to three percent of that price increase … is driven by biofuels. A majority, of course, is [driven by the increasing cost of] energy”.

(ii) New Energy Finance (28 May 2008): “A new report from New Energy Finance concludes that biofuels are responsible for at most 8% out of the 168% rise in grain prices since 2004 [and that] as a proportion of the total rise in prices, biofuels can take the blame for less than 5% of the rise in grain prices”.

(iii) EU Commission (20 May 2008): “Commission analyses indicate that current EU biofuel production has little impact on current global food prices, as biofuels use less than 1 per cent of EU cereal production”.

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