The UK’s largest producer of high-purity carbon dioxide has warned of an imminent shutdown that could cause severe disruption to industries reliant on commercial CO₂, after being blindsided by a recent UK-US trade deal that removes tariffs on American bioethanol imports.
Ensus, which operates a major bioethanol plant at Wilton on Teesside, said it may be forced to close its facility within weeks unless the government steps in with tens of millions of pounds in emergency subsidies. The plant, which uses British-grown wheat to produce bioethanol for E10 petrol, also generates a vital by-product: high-purity CO₂. This gas is critical for numerous sectors, including food and drink manufacturing, healthcare, and the nuclear industry.
Ensus says the government’s trade deal has jeopardised the entire domestic bioethanol industry. By agreeing to remove a 19 per cent import tariff on up to 1.4 billion litres of US bioethanol per year—roughly the UK’s total demand—the deal has made it almost impossible for British producers to compete. US manufacturers already benefit from lower crop and energy costs, and the sudden influx of cheap imports has put UK-based plants like Ensus and Vivergo Fuels on the brink of closure.
Grant Pearson, chairman of Ensus UK, said the situation had become critical: “We are at the 11th hour and the government urgently needs to find a solution to a crisis of its own making. We need a solution which will not only save these skilled jobs on Teesside, but also prevent a catastrophic knock-on effect in other vital sectors of the economy.”
Ensus is understood to be weeks away from deciding whether to commit funds for a scheduled maintenance period in September—without government backing, that investment may not happen, effectively sealing the plant’s fate.
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