A major new biofuel plant in the Humber Estuary, which opened on Monday (8th July) promises to produce sustainable bio-ethanol and 500,000 tonnes of animal feed each year, reducing reliance on imports of soya from the Americas, while creating a lower impact alternative to fossil fuels. However, even before the plants' doors had opened, the claims of its operators had been challenged.

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The result of a venture between British oil multinational BP, monopoly beet processor British Sugar and agribusiness DuPont, the Vivergo refinery's launch was subject to repeated delays; the plant was initially expected to open in the 2010/11 crop year. It was instead opened this week by business secretary Vince Cable.

The pant promises to produce 420 million litres of biofuel each year, and has already begun purchasing wheat from traders in the surrounding area; operators favour using local sourcing in order to bolster the facility's green credentials. Although the enterprise has been hailed as a welcome development for the long-neglected Humberside region and is supported by UK livestock farmers, eager for the feed it will produce, concerns persist that the plant will fail to live up to the promises of its backers.

The Vivergo operation is a hungry one; the plant requires 1.1 million tonnes of wheat to function annually, and European regulators believe the demand from plants such as this may prove unsustainable. Furthermore, its opponents claim the energy produced is no greener than conventional fossil fuels, and maintain that using food grains to make combustible fuel is irresponsible.

EU rapporteurs believe replacing food crops with fuel is driving up food prices and driving deforestation and draining of peat bogs. The European Commission is poised to cap biofuel production from food crops.

Industry welcomes new plant, but government support wanes

The NFU welcomed news of the plant's opening last week. The farm union said it "will come as a relief to both the arable and livestock sectors following a difficult 12 months, which saw a below average harvest, the temporary mothballing of North East ethanol plant Ensus and high animal feed prices as a result of the poor weather across the country."

NFU combinable crops spokesperson Brett Askew added, "It's a boost to farmers to hear that Vivergo will be maximising their potential capacity in the run up to harvest. Multiple markets for our produce allow individual farmers the certainty we need to do what we do best and produce to satisfy market demand for food, feed and fuel."

However, in a report released last week, the European Environment Agency demonstrated that, although biofuels sourced from waste or by-products can carry advantages over conventional fossil fuels in terms of environmental impact and overall emissions, when crops are grown especially for fuel production, biofuels result in indirect land use change and can push up the cost of food.   

EU legislators initially backed the drive for biofuels, and EU mandates nurtured a powerful and rapidly growing industry which makes fuel from food crops, or those grown on land traditionally used for food production. However, increasing evidence suggests that previous assessments of emissions from biofuels have been flawed and the totality of their production actually increases emissions relative to conventional fuels. In light of this, the EU is set to pursue a major policy U-turn, limiting the amount of fuel derived from food crops to 5 percent of transport fuel by 2020; if enacted, this would effectively freeze EU biofuel production at current levels.

Although biofuels have backing from major industry groups, whose participation carries political and economic clout, the future of plants like Vivergo remains far from assured. A final vote on the EU biofuels cap is scheduled for Wednesday 10th July.

In Debates last month, the European Parliament Energy Committee supported a weakening of restrictions on conventional (from starchy crops) biofuels, including easing the Commission's proposed 5 percent cap to 6.5 percent. Nevertheless, MEPs said measures are needed to support a transition towards production of advanced biofuels, made from wastes, algae and other sources that don't compete directly with food and feed crops. These, the Committee said, "provide high greenhouse gas savings with a low indirect land use change impact."

Committee members urged that, "Greater production of advanced biofuels should be encouraged by gradually phasing in mandatory targets for their use in the transport sector, whilst meeting certain sustainability criteria."