Fuelling Sugar Beet’s Future
by Paul Spackman (CheckBiotech) …”Ethanol production accounts for around 20% of cane harvested and 3% of beet and I’m cautiously optimistic those proportions will increase,” (the International Sugar Organization’s Peter Barron) said.
…While feed wheat rather than sugar beet is the main feedstock for both plants, British Sugar is a partner in the Vivergo venture and also has its own bioethanol facility at its Wissington sugar beet factory in Norfolk, producing 70m litres of bioethanol a year.
The site was initially developed to ‘mop up’ surplus ‘C’ quota beet, but the company also grows around 200,000t of beet itself to ensure feedstock supply for the plant, the company’s agriculture director, Colm McKay, said.
“We are constantly reviewing whether we can expand our bioethanol production from beet, but have no plans to grow any more beet ourselves. We would love to see more beet grown in the UK to expand some of these alternative markets,” he said.
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