UK's first bioethanol plant opens

The UK's first commercial bioethanol plant using sugar beet as its main raw material has opened in Norfolk.

Food and farming minister Lord Rooker welcomed the £20m bioethanol plant at Wissington in Norfolk as an expansion of the environmental industries sector.

He said at the opening: "Climate change is the biggest challenge facing society but we can tackle it using the skills and innovation prevalent in the UK.

"Biofuels help cut our carbon footprint and the UK is leading the way."

The plant is run by British Sugar and is located alongside the world's largest sugar beet factory.

The 70m litres of bioethanol that will be produced annually will be made from 110,000 tonnes sugar beet grown in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

The sugar factory's combined heat and power plant also provides energy so that bioethanol produced delivers 60% carbon savings compared with ordinary petrol refining operations.