With gloom surrounding the global financial sector over the last couple of years -  it is refreshing to see a large capital project success story, and one on the biofuels front to boot. The Ensus plant in Teesside UK - the largest single bioethanol facility in Europe -  is in the process of starting up. The plant will utilise more than 1 million tons per year of wheat as a feedstock, producing more than 330kt per year each of ethanol and co-products of animal feed and bottled CO₂.

Around £300 million sterling was raised for financing the project, an impressive achievement under difficult circumstances. I am pleased to have been a part of it commercially in the early phases.  Congratulations to the team that persevered and delivered the project. 

Here's a thought: If a country with the (small) size and (large) population of the UK can be a net exporter of grain - to the tune of 2 million tons per year, facilitating the construction of world-scale biofuel facilities profitably, whilst remainiing self sufficient on the food front - then surely there are opportunities in many other countries.

The Ensus project demonstrates that well organised, integrated supply chains as well as mechanised productive farming that maximises the use of available land, and production economies of scale, can be successful. Government and legislated mandates on biofuel inclusion percentages into fuels don't hurt either.. That however (as far as i understand) was the limit of the UK government's involvement in this project, which is in itself also refreshing.  

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