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Publication: Eastern Daily Press
June 11th 2005
Headline: Campaign to Back Bio Fuels
Members of parliament will soon be getting a beautiful view of arable crops and woodland Norfolk as part of a campaign to produce biofuels.
MPs will be urged to support processing of home grown fuels and thus prevent the export of the British biofuels industry.
The campaign is launched just as Brussels has allowed Germany to invest £29million in a new bioethanol plant in Saxony-Anhalt.The factory in former East Germany , near Magdeburg, will process cereals and thick juice produced from sugar beet. It will cost Sudzucker around 182.5m euros (£124m.)
British sugar has applied for planning permission for a £55m bioethanol plant at Wissington, near Downham Market, to process beet and wheat into 55,000 tonnes of bioethanol. However despite intense pressure, Whitehall and the Treasury has to date resisted all requests for financial help for the project.
“Processing is the key to getting our biofuels industry under way “said Nicola Currie, CLA eastern region director. “At the moment we have the ludicrous situation where we are sending oilseed rape and cereals abroad for processing and then bringing them back again in the form of vehicle fuel.
“It makes a nonsense of the whole aim for cleaner, greener fuels because of the ‘fuel miles’ involved in this unnecessary exporting and importing procedure. British Farmers and land managers can supply the raw materials.
“What we need now are local plants taking crops from their locality and processing them into energy – a point we have made firmly to the government.
“This goes way beyond agriculture. The entire rural economy could benefit. Adding just 5% bio-ethanol from sugar beet and cereals would create 10,000 jobs”
The campaign is backed by the Lady Shephard, who spear heads the all party campaign to persuade the government to give more encouragement to UK bio-fuels and is the former MP for South West Norfolk.
“Let British farmers grow and process all renewable crops.That will give them and all of us a future.” She said
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