The potential closure of the UK’s two bioethanol plants, which could result from the recent UK-US trade deal, would put the country at risk of another severe carbon dioxide shortage, as happened in 2018.
Pure, food-grade CO₂ is a strategic asset. It is used to cool nuclear power plants, extend the shelf life of food, carbonate beverages, and humanely slaughter livestock. My company, which is a spinout from the University of Oxford, specialises in converting CO₂ into sustainable fuels, chemicals and plastics using novel catalysis.
Ethanol plants, of which the UK has only two — Ensus on Teesside and Vivergo near Hull — are rare in their capacity to produce high volumes of concentrated CO₂ in a single location. Ensus already has CO₂ capture installed, making it the UK’s only large-scale CO₂ capture plant in operation. Vivergo has a project under way to install similar infrastructure.
If these plants close as a result of the UK-US trade deal, the UK would likely have to import all of its CO₂ needs from Europe at high prices. The loss of these plants also undermines the UK’s ambitions to scale sustainable aviation fuel production, which can use this biogenic CO₂ as a feedstock.
Policymakers must act swiftly to protect this critical national infrastructure and avoid another UK CO₂ crisis.
Andrew Symes
Co-Founder and Chief Executive, OXCCU
Oxford, UK
