Britain to introduce greener gasoline at petrol stations by September

CropEnergies AG

25/02/2021 11:44

LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Britain is set to introduce E10
gasoline, a motor fuel blended with 10% renewable fuels, by
September this year, a move that could cut annual CO2 emissions
by 750,000 tonnes, the government announced on Thursday. 
    Current gasoline blends in Britain contain no more than 5%
ethanol (E5), but the introduction of the E10 grade could cut
transport emissions equivalent to removing 350,000 cars from the
roads, the government said.
    Bioethanol is made from materials including low-grade
grains, sugars and waste wood.
    "Using bioethanol in place of traditional petrol can reduce
CO2 emissions and, therefore, increasing the ethanol content of
petrol could help us meet our climate change targets," the
government said.
    Farmers welcomed the move which should lead to a significant
rise in demand for some crops.
    "Not only will this mandate provide a boost for the UK wheat
and sugar sectors, it will play an important and immediate role
in delivering the government's green agenda, especially as it
may be some years before we are able to make a countrywide shift
to fully electric vehicles," the National Farmers Union said in
a statement.
    The government said that the E5 blend would remain available
at pumps in the "Super" grade for older vehicles that may not be
compatible with E10. 
    Britain consumed around 11.7 million tonnes of gasoline in
2019, according to the latest government data, accounting for
about a third of overall road transport fuel use.
    The move is a major boost to Britain's biofuels producers
with Vivergo Fuels announcing plans to reopen a bioethanol plant
in Hull, north-eastern England, which has been closed since
September 2018.
    Vivergo Fuels, a unit of Associated British Foods PLC.
 ABF.L , said it the plant would start manufacturing ethanol in
early 2022.
    The bioethanol plant can produce up to 420 million litres of
bioethanol and use up to 1.1 million tonnes of feed wheat.
    The government statement also said a bioethanol plant owned
by Ensus in north-east England would increase production.
    Ensus is a unit of CropEnergies  CE2G.DE .

 (Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar and Nigel Hunt; editing by David
Evans)
 ((Ahmad.Ghaddar@thomsonreuters.com; +442075424435; Reuters
Messaging: ahmad.ghaddar.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))