The UK bioethanol industry, which makes our petrol from the pumps cleaner, is at risk – and with it Vivergo, which supports over 160 direct jobs, 4,000 in the supply chain and 800 farms in Yorkshire.
The recently announced tariff deal with the United States gives American bioethanol firms tariff-free access for 1.4bn litres of bioethanol, the exact size of the UK domestic market. This threatens to put firms like Vivergo at risk.
Graham, as the local MP, has been working hard to save the Saltend plant and the UK industry in general. Having seen over £700 million of investment over the past few years, Vivergo was a company with a bright future and tremendous growth just over the horizon. Losing the domestic market means the plant’s future is at risk.
Employees from Vivergo came to London to lobby local MPs, including Graham, while Managing Director Ben Hackett was giving evidence to the Business and Trade Committee.
Graham recently met Trade minister Sarah Jones to make the case for Vivergo and will question the government on its plans for saving Vivergo and the jobs it creates in Parliament.
Vivergo is one of the UK’s two bioethanol plants, along with Ensus. The plants use domestic wheat to produce the fuel, which is used to provide up to 10% of all petrol sold at the pump (under E10 standard), reducing emissions and improving air quality.
Vivergo also produces 400,000 tonnes of animal feed and CO2 as part of the process. The Saltend plant, which was the UK’s second-largest infrastructure project after the 2012 London Olympics, employs 160 people directly and estimates 4,000 are supported in its supply chain alongside 800 Yorkshire farms.
There is a petition, signed by over 2,000 people, encouraging Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds to save the UK bioethanol industry. It is available here.
Graham said, “Vivergo is a business with a future: a future improving our air quality, a future providing animal feed and CO2, a future transforming maritime fuel.
“If we lose the UK bioethanol industry, thanks to Labour’s so-called trade deal with the US, that will be at risk.
“Bioethanol makes our fuel, and our air cleaner. By killing our domestic industry it would be replaced by the same product, transported thousands of miles by sea and benefitting no one in the UK supply chain.
“I don’t know whether this was an accident by the government or a deliberate effort to throw this industry under the bus, but I’m doing what I can to support a future for Vivergo and UK bioethanol.”
