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Two East Anglian Companies – at the The Royal Norfolk Show to help increase awareness of their renewable fuels – made fresh calls last night for more government support.
British Sugar, which has factories at Bury St Edmunds and Cantley, near Acle, and Global Commodities UK, based at Shipdham, near Dereham, have developed bio-fuels for use in place of petrol or Diesel. But last night they stressed that unless the Government took drastic action to cut excise duty on renewable fuels, it was unlikely to reach its target to cut greenhouse gasses by 12.5pc by 2010.
Dennis Thouless, managing director of Global Commodities UK, said: "We desperately need the Government to get behind us and support us by cutting excise duty. We want to make sure people have freedom of choice when they are standing at the petrol pumps."
Mr Thouless has developed a bio-degradable diesel product from vegetable oil. driveECO was launched in February and can be used in place of conventional diesel. Benefits include being non-toxic, reducing pollutants in environment and reducing engine wear.
driveECO is available at 19 garages in Norfolk, but Mr Thouless said if ministers took steps to help firms like his, the fuel could soon be sold in garages across the UK and beyond. "This product can be made from rape farmed in the fields around East Anglia. They are the oil fields of the future." he said
The EDP-backed CRed campaign, which aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions to prevent global warming, has supported driveECO bio-diesel. Bruce Tofield, of CRed, said that by switching to the fuel it was estimated that local haulage firm Woodys has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by up to 4000 tonnes each year. British Sugar's petrol substitute Bioethanol is not sold to the public because it cannot compete with the price of petrol because of excise duty.
From the Eastern Daily Press – June 2003
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