Biofuels & Biorefining

North East England is focusing on developing the Biorefinery concept - this is an enormous area covering fine and bulk chemicals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, solvents, plastics, vitamins, food additives, agrochemicals and bio-fuels such as bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. The Investments in large Biofuels plants such as Ensus which is now up and running and SembCorp’s new 30MW wood fired power plant is integrated into the existing chemical processes. Other biofuel investments which have taken place in the region in recent years include Biofuels Corp and D1 Oils. Working with One North East and bodies such as the National Non Food Crop Centre, North East Biofuels, and the Chemical Innovation & Bioscience for Business Knowledge Transfer Networks progress is being made on a roadmap for the future for North East based biorefinery businesses.

Thanks to the work of organisations such as Renew Tees Valley and Tees Valley Regeneration the region has been blossoming as a major centre for Biofuels and renewable energy. Examples of this are seen with Biofuels Corporation, D1 Oils and Ensus pushing on with their Bio Diesel and Bioethanol investments. Sembcorp is commissioning a 30MW wood burning power station and others like Centrica and Progressive Energy intend to build power stations with reduced carbon footprints by capturing carbon dioxide.