Bioathenol plant starts shut-down process

One of the two UK bioethonol plants, Vivogo has stopped production and will begin to close its 160 employees on Tuesday.

After weeks talks, the government said on Friday that it would not provide financial assistance to the bioethonol sector, which is facing increased competition from imported US ethanol.

Vivarago owned by allied British foods said that it continues as a “heavy loss-making” business. As a result it is closing, the site prepared for the demolition due to the departure of all employees and the end of the year.

The government said that it has decided that a rescue would not provide value for taxpayers or solve long -term problems of the industry.

Alex Snowden, Director of Operations of Vivogo said that the closed “heartbreak”.

“I am from the local area, I live 10 minutes away from the site,” he said. “This is a very large part of my life.”

He said, “What we are doing effectively is now emptying our liquor furnace because we are curling the plant.”

The plant located near Hamber Muhana, takes the locally grown wheat, uses it to disturb alcohol for bioathanol and then makes residues in high protein feed pellets, mainly for dairy cattle.

The operation has been through ups and downs and requires “needs of hard work”, Mr. Snowden said, but now in very good shape, which he said that makes the shut down even more disappointing.

Biohethanol can be made from waste oil or grains and is used as a additive to fuel to reduce climate-hiratory emissions. For example, it is added to E5 and E10 petrol and durable aviation fuel.

In May, the UK signed a trade deal, which removed 19% tariffs on US-ae-ethanol to a 1.4BN liter quota, which was broadly equalant for the UK market size.

It was one of the concessions made by Britain as part of the comprehensive trade treaty, which reduced the tariffs that President Donald Trump said that he would import the US to the US to import to Atlantic on UK cars and steel.

Even before that trade agreement, the UK sector complained that American imports had an inappropriate financial advantage as their ethanol is certified as an waste sub -product in the UK, while not domesticly produced bioethanol.

The UK growers have argued that it is due to being able to reduce American rivals to reduce them, and there will be even greater profit after the tariff is removed.

Vivaro is one of the two bioethonol sites in the UK, which said that it will be forced to close without support.

The BBC understands that the Redkar, other plants in Teside, which are owned by the German firm Ensus, wait to hear if the government will provide assistance to protect its CO2 production, a product that is widely used in industry, food production and healthcare.

Vivoo was also planning to capture the CO2 produced as part of the process of making bioethaneol, but had not started yet.

The Managing Director of Ben Hacket, Vivrago, described the government’s decision, which does not provide the rescue package as a “plow and massive blow for the hammer”.

He said that the government had decided that the bioethanol sector is something that could be “far-off” and it was “a major task of economic self-loss”.

Along with the disadvantage of their own employees, Vivrago warned that there would be a knock-on impact on suppliers and customers.

Paul Temple, a farmer, who is located less than 30 miles from Vivargo, has not only sold his wheat to the plant, but has also bought feed for his livestock.

“As a result of business talks – making a plant effectively uneven … it is really disappointing,” he said.

Louis Holder, director of a local transport firm, said the closure would have a “large -scale” impact on the local economy.

“People [will be] Out of work, “he said.” Obviously there is an impact on the hospitality industry, as people are not going out, as they cannot tolerate. This is just a wave effect on every business. ,

OxCCU CEO Andrew Sims, who makes sustainable aviation fuel, told the BBC Today program that Closure would depend on the UK on imports and for ethanol, which they described as “risky”.

“I think it was probably not realized that when the business deal was done,” he said.

The government said it had decided “in the national interest” and the tariff deal with the US had protected hundreds of thousands of jobs in areas such as auto and aerospace “.

A government spokesperson said that he would work to support companies through the closure process and continue to work on proposals that would “ensure the flexibility of our CO2 supply in the long term”.

GMB National Officer, Charlotte Brumpton-Childs said that the government’s commitment for green policies should mean commitment to green jobs.

“A clean energy industrial strategy means nothing if we cannot protect plants to provide clean energy jobs here in Britain,” he said.