April 20, 2012
Frontier delivers first wheat to Britain''s bio-fuel plant
The first lorry loads of wheat have been delivered by Frontier to Britain''s largest bio-fuel plant, Vivergo Fuels Ltd. near Hull.
The intial delivery from Humber Gold farmers will be used for commissioning the new Vivergo plant and deliveries will be gradually "ramped up" over the next few weeks until full production begins in late spring.
Dr Geraint Evans, Head of Biofuels and Bioenergy at NNFCC, said: "The startup of this major new production plant is an important step in the development of the UK''s sustainable biofuels industry."
"Biorefining wheat in this way to produce fuel and feed demonstrates one way of making sustainable biofuels. We look forward to seeing continuous improvement and new biofuel developments, including the production of biobutanol and other advanced fuels such as bioethanol and bio jet fuels made from wastes," he adds.
Vivergo is expected to take 1,200 tonnes of wheat in the first two weeks but when in full production the plant will use more than 20,000 tonnes of wheat every week or some 1.1 million tonnes a year, equivalent to 7.2 per cent of the UK''s wheat harvest in 2011.
John Holtby, a farmer from E Holtby & Son, Skirlaugh in Yorkshire said of his first delivery to Vivergo: "It''s great to be one of the farmers delivering the very first loads to Vivergo. We''ve been anticipating this for some time but to have this new home for our wheat in such proximity is good news."
"Looking to the future, I''m considering venturing into livestock because we already have straw on farm and, once full production starts, the animal feed co-product could make for an efficient process with wheat leaving the farm to go to Vivergo and feed coming on the same vehicle once tipped," he adds.
Frontier is the exclusive supplier of grain to the site which will be the number one tip point for wheat in the UK once open. The start of production at the new plant will see wheat, which has traditionally been exported as animal feed, stay in the UK and be used to make bioethanol as well as an animal feed co-product.
When finished the Vivergo biorefinery will be one of the largest in Europe and will produce 420 million litres of bioethanol and 500,000 tonnes of animal feed each year.