In the United Kingdom (UK), the All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPG) for British Bioethanol has launched an Inquiry into Introducing E10 in the UK. The Inquiry follows announcements last year from two of the UK’s largest bioethanol producers Vivergo and Ensus - to cease and pause production due to insufficient demand in the UK where only E5 is available and comes ahead of an anticipated announcement later this year by the Department for Transport on E10.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Bioethanol has launched an inquiry into introducing E10, a blend of fuel containing ten percent bioethanol already sold in many other developed countries including Germany, Belgium, France, Finland, and the United States (US), into the UK.
The inquiry follows announcements last year from two of the UK’s largest bioethanol producers Vivergo and Ensus – to cease and pause production due to insufficient demand in the UK where only E5 – a blend of fuel containing five percent bioethanol – is available. The inquiry comes ahead of an anticipated announcement later this year by the Department for Transport on E10.
The inquiry will be seeking written evidence from all private and public bodies and individuals with an interest in the production or use of bioethanol including:
- Bioethanol Producers
- Motorist Organisation
- Farmers
- Fuel Retailers
- Environmental Groups
- Department for Transport
Interested organisations and individuals have until May 10, 2019, to submit written evidence to the APPG Inquiry Secretariat British Bioethanol. Contingent on time, oral evidence sessions will be hosted by the APPG on April 30 or May 1, 2019, in Parliament to enable MPs and peers to hear directly from experts and the industry, with a final report expected in the early summer.
The British Bioethanol industry – which is worth a billion pounds to the UK economy – is in a state of collapse and the introduction of E10 could help bring it back from the brink. This inquiry will seek to better understand the issues and barriers around introducing E10 in the UK which is already available in many other developed nations. While securing the future of the industry on which thousands of jobs depend, introducing E10 could also help the UK meet its carbon reduction and air quality improvement targets, making it an issue urgently needing further investigation, said Nic Dakin MPChair of the APPG for British Bioethanol and Member of Parliament for Scunthorpe.
All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) are informal cross-party groups that have no official status within Parliament. They are run by and for Members of the Commons and Lords, though many choose to involve individuals and organisations from outside Parliament in their administration and activities.
The APPG for British Bioethanol is a group of cross-party Parliamentarians with a stated purpose to “to raise awareness of the industry, its economic impact, the supporting role it plays for British agriculture, and the environmental benefits of the bioethanol it produces”.
After years of delay and false dawns, the bioethanol industry now needs urgent progress on E10 which if introduced, could bring this one billion pound industry back from the brink of collapse. As E10 is cleaner and greener than the current E5 fuel, making it available at UK pumps is a no brainer, but we hope this inquiry will identify any remaining barriers to its introduction and ways to quickly overcome them, said Grant Pearson, Commercial Director at Ensus UK Ltd.
