UK Rejects Funding for AB Foods’ Vivergo Bioethanol Plant

The UK government said it will not provide financial support to the country’s bioethanol industry, rejecting a request from Associated British Foods to keep its Vivergo plant near Hull operating. A government spokesperson said “direct funding would not provide value for the taxpayer or solve the long-term problems the industry faces.” The decision leaves Vivergo, one of two major UK bioethanol facilities, almost certain to close by September. AB Foods warned in June that the plant would be shuttered unless an aid package was agreed. Ensus, the other large producer, has also signalled it may halt production. Domestic producers argue they have been squeezed by a UK-US trade deal that eliminated a 19% tariff on American ethanol through a 1.4-billion-litre quota—roughly the size of the entire British market. Industry groups say thousands of jobs in northern England depend on the sector.