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ENSUS’ £310m ($464m) biorefinery on Teesside, UK, has dispatched its first shipment of renewable bioethanol made from wheat.

The Ensus biorefinery is Europe’s largest, and is expected to meet a third of the UK’s requirements for the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation, under which 3.5% of transport fuel must come from biofuels in 2010–2011. This will rise to 5% in 2012–2013. Shell has a ten-year agreement with Ensus to purchase all bioethanol produced at the site, expected to be 400m l/y.

While first-generation biofuels have somewhat fallen out of fashion in recent times, as feedstocks compete with food for land, Alwyn Hughes, Ensus ceo says that bioethanol made at the Teesside plant is produced from animal-feed wheat, of which the UK has a large surplus anyway. The plant also produces 350,000 t/y of high-protein animal feed, which Alwyn says will reduce imports of soya-based feed, and CO₂ is captured for sale to food and beverage producers.

“This is a milestone for UK production of biofuels and a beacon of hope for the burgeoning green industry on Teesside. We congratulate all those who have been involved. This is a win, win, win for the environment, UK jobs and the economy at large,” says Hughes.

The plant was originally unveiled in December 2009.