INEOS Bio wins £7.3m grant for bioethanol from waste plant

14 June 2010 12:19  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--INEOS Bio has been awarded a £7.3m ($10.6m; €8.8m) grant towards £52m in construction costs for Europe’s first bioethanol from waste plant, the green technology unit of chemicals major INEOS said on Monday.

The grant, from the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change and regional development agency One North East, would go towards constructing a 30m litre bioethanol plant at Seal Sands in the Tees Valley, north east of England, the company said.

The 24,000 tonnes/year plant would convert biodegradable household and commercial waste into biofuel and renewable electricity, INEOS Bio added.

“Using our technology, the waste that is collected from homes and offices… can be re-cycled into clean biofuel for cars and renewable electricity for homes and industry,” said Peter Williams, CEO of INEOS Bio.

INEOS Bio uses anaerobic fermentation to convert gases from biomass directly into ethanol and the grant would help bring its technology closer to commercialisation, it said.

The bioethanol plant could be operational by 2012, helping to create 350 construction jobs and over 40 permanent roles, according to INEOS Bio.

The facility would be expanded into a larger integrated biorefinery, to be operational by 2015, it said.

Full planning consent for the plant had been awarded by Stockton Council and so far no objections had been raised against the expanded biorefinery, the company added.

($1 = €0.83; €1 = £0.83)

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By: Elaine Mills
+44 208 652 3214

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