The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, has pledged to review urgently the use of bioethanol in petrol following my meeting with him to discuss the future of Vivergo Fuels. Vivergo is the UK’s largest bioethanol producer and uses animal feed-grade wheat from farms across Thirsk and Malton, which adds around £10/tonne to cereal prices. Vivergo’s plant on Humberside which employs 150 people and supports a further 3,000 jobs across the region was forced to close in December. The company has blamed the closure on the government’s delay in forcing oil companies use 10% biothenal in petrol by introducing a fuel called E10, instead of the current 5%. It says that the delay in doing so has meant that its losses have increased and so it made ‘more sense’ to stop production. Bioethanol is a renewable transport fuel which is blended with petrol to cut carbon emissions. The company claim that the 5% increase in bioethanol would mean emission savings equivalent to taking 700,000 cars off the road and would help meet the government’s climate change targets, save jobs and support farmers in the region. Mr Grayling said he would now give the matter careful attention and come back to me as soon as possible. Reacting to this development, Richard Royal from Vivergo said; “We are a major employer and investor in the region, with a £350m plant supporting over 100 farms in Mr Hollinrake’s constituency and we are grateful to him for taking this issue forward. The political pledges on which our investment was predicated have been delayed by years and still hang in the balance. We have a product that can help to tackle transport emissions immediately, and we urge the Government to show leadership by introducing E10 as soon as possible.”