Fears over bioethanol plant ‘putting £1.25 billion jet fuel project in jeopardy'
Earlier this year, Meld Energy signed a £1.25 billion agreement with Vivergo Fuels to anchor a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) facility at Saltend Chemicals Park in Hull.
Meld Energy CEO and founder Chris Smith said: 'We're excited about the potential to bring our sustainable aviation fuel project to the Humber – one of the UK's most important industrial and energy hubs.
'But, for projects like ours to succeed and the flow of vital investment to be forthcoming, we need a strong and integrated low-carbon ecosystem.
'A bioethanol plant on site at Saltend is a critical part of that mix. Without it, we'd have to consider alternative locations overseas where that infrastructure is already in place.'
Mr Smith was speaking as the Vivergo plant was expecting its last scheduled wheat delivery from a farm in Lincolnshire on Friday, as the site continues to wind down.
Vivergo Fuels managing director Ben Hackett wrote to wheat growers earlier this year explaining that the plant will only be able to honour existing contractual obligations for wheat purchases while uncertainty continues.
Mr Hackett said: 'Building a future fuels cluster here in Hull would deliver major economic, environmental and strategic benefits not just for the Humber, but for the whole country.
Vivergo Fuels says it will be forced to close its plant near Hull unless the Government acts (Vivergo Fuels/PA)
'We have the site, the skills, the supply chain and the ambition to lead the way on sustainable aviation fuel.
'But, without urgent Government support for British bioethanol, the UK risks losing that opportunity, along with the jobs and billions of pounds in investment that depend on it.'
Last month, the firm, which is owned by Associated British Foods (ABF), said it is was beginning consultation with staff to wind down the plant, which employs more than 160 people, due to the uncertain situation – a process which could see production stop before September 13, if support is not provided.
It said Britain's two largest bioethanol producers – Vivergo Fuels and Ensus in Teesside – are now in urgent negotiations with the Government.
The firms say the UK-US trade deal and regulatory constraints on the industry have made it impossible to compete with heavily subsidised American products.
A Government spokesperson said: 'We recognise this is a concerning time for workers and their families which is why we entered into formal discussions with the company on potential financial support last month.
'We will continue to take proactive steps to address the long-standing challenges the company faces and remain committed to working closely with them throughout this period to present a plan for a way forward that protects supply chains, jobs and livelihoods.'
The Government said officials and ministers have met with Vivergo and Ensus consistently over the last few months to discuss options to address 'significant challenges' that the bioethanol industry has been facing for some time.
It said engagement with the companies 'continues at pace' and external consultants have been brought in to help.
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'We need to do manufacturing ourselves' Daniel Bangham is an endangered to national charity Heritage Crafts - which promotes and supports traditional UK crafts - there are "serious concerns" about the "ongoing viability" of his trade of 45 instrument making, which Mr Bangham does at his own workshop in Linton, Cambridgeshire, is among more than 90 crafts it classes as are just enough skilled craftspeople to keep the work going, and to educate others - for now - but more is needed to be done to safeguard its is clearly a demand for his work: top musicians still need bespoke instruments that are not mass-produced."Professional players depend on craftsmen to get the last five to 10% out of their instruments," said Mr Bangham."Without the instrument maker, you can't have musicians at the top of their game because a top musician will need constant contact with a maker and repairer to get the very best of their instruments." Manufacturing of woodwind instruments - as with many other things - has moved to East Asia, he says, but the reliance on imports needed to change. "As a nation we need to do primary manufacturing ourselves, everything from steel, through to making microscopes and musical instruments," he said."People will still want to hone their skills, but they have to be given the opportunity, the environment and the encouragement."Heritage Crafts has singled him out for praise for being one of the few people to take on years ago, he set up a workshop studio to teach skills to others."We have enabled 250 instruments to be made, and of those we have had four people who have become professional," he Mr Bangham believes the trade could die out because apprenticeships are "not easy or affordable"."Very often someone will go into a profession obliquely, they never thought they were going to go there," he said."They started making a small widget, found they would be good at it, then got more interested in the bigger picture and became a dedicated craftsman." 'You never stop learning' You may have seen examples of Ian Warren's craft, but perhaps not known what it is or moulded plasterwork - pargeting - is prominent in East Anglia and is used to create motifs of coats of arms, fruits, animals, or even entire scenes on has been a skilled craft in England since King Henry VIII brought in Italian plasterers to decorate one of his palaces. Mr Warren, who works out of Tillingham, near Southminster in Essex, is one of just 11 pargeters known to Heritage Craft. "You can see it around Lavenham and Clare [both near Sudbury in Suffolk], where they had men with more money," said Mr Warren."They had pargeting done to let everyone know that." Heritage Crafts believes the issues affecting pargeting include changing tastes in housing design and the strict restrictions imposed by conservation legislation. It can also be expensive and takes time, which does not correlate with competitive tendering Warren has seen all these problems, as well as commonly-used materials not being up to the task."Modern rendering is now resin, it's not sand, cement and lime anymore, it's prebagged and it doesn't lend itself to pargeting," he explained."Flat rendering is cheaper and some [building] designs are very boxy; it looks wrong on a modern house."Nevertheless, he is hopeful for the future. He has diversified by pargeting on to small panels which can be hung inside as works of art "that will last hundreds of years"."I've been doing it 35 years and I've never been out of work, but I have adapted by doing these smaller things," he said."I started doing panels to take to shows, and because I don't like going up scaffolding in the winter anymore."There are builders and developers, especially around here, that still want that look, it's sellable."Heritage Crafts points out that practitioners need "considerable artistic talent" and also want a labour-intensive is no training school, apprenticeships or courses beyond the occasional introductory day school."You never stop learning," said Mr Warren, who is self-taught. "I think you need to be like myself, you've got to be enthusiastic and work for yourself."You have to have a bit of artistic flair in the first place."I could teach someone to a standard, but they have to have that bit about them to take it on their own." 'People have done this for centuries' Mark Clifton's trade of flintknapping - the shaping of flint by "percussive force" - has been around since the Stone Age but could die out because of a skills shortage. Heritage Crafts says the work is "extremely challenging" - it requires technique, accuracy and good hand-eye Clifton, who works out of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, type of flintwork is for the building sector, with Mr Clifton breaking the stones to specific sizes and shapes to create a flush finish on walls. It is time consuming, back-breaking work, with few skilled people still doing it in the UK."I spend half my time on my knees, and as you get older it gets painful," he said."It's a very manual job."You break the flint in half and then you trim it to fit them around each other, and then fit into the wall." Churches and other heritage buildings need the real deal like Mr the shortage of craftsman - and lack of training opportunities - means that, elsewhere, cheaper walls are often created by pressing the stones into concrete as a "short cut", Heritage Crafts says. "Not enough people are getting into it," added Mr Clifton."There are just a handful of good ones, across the country."I fell into it... I'd never knapped in my life but had done whole stone, had slightly the wrong tools to begin with, and went from there. "It's quite a skill."He said he hoped its growing popularity as a feature of modern buildings could be its saviour, but colleges needed to offer courses. "It makes me sad that it could die out," he added. "People have been flintknappers for centuries. "When you think people would quarry flints and knap them at Grimes Graves [a prehistoric flint mine in Lynford, Norfolk]."I still might train someone; I've had apprentices in the past, they've stuck to the course, some have now done it for 28 years." Published annually by Heritage Crafts, the Red List categorises five skills as extinct, 70 as critically endangered and more than 90 as endangered."The Red List underscores the urgent need for greater investment and support to safeguard these skills for the next generation," said Daniel Carpenter, executive director of Heritage Crafts."Reversing this decline would represent not just the continuation of skilled trades, but also a significant boost to the UK's cultural heritage and countless opportunities for future innovation." Follow East of England news on X, Instagram and Facebook: BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks, BBC Cambridgeshire, BBC Essex, BBC Norfolk, BBC Northamptonshire or BBC Suffolk.
