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The CO₂ production facility at British Sugar’s Wissington factory has successfully restarted, following the signing of a long-term agreement with Air Liquide. It is now producing biogenic CO₂ to various sectors in the UK and abroad.

The plant, one of the largest sources of biogenic CO₂ in the UK, is located next to Wissington’s bioethanol facility, ensuring no extra transport miles are needed to get the raw product to the facility. It is strategically positioned to derive biogenic CO₂ as a by-product of the bioethanol process.

Once the sugar has been extracted from locally grown sugar beet, the residual juice is used by the bioethanol plant to produce a low-carbon transportation fuel (E10). It is during this fermentation process of the residual juice that the raw CO₂ is produced.

Under the new agreement, Air Liquide will purify and liquify the raw CO₂, producing around 20,000 tonnes annually, going to customers across various industries, including food and beverage, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. This CO₂ would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, so it’s an important step to reduce carbon emissions from British Sugar’s end-to-end site operations even further. This reduction amounts to approximately 5% of Wissington’s scope 1 total emissions.  

Keith Packer, Managing Director of British Sugar comments: “We are delighted to reopen the CO₂ facility at our Wissington site in conjunction with Air Liquide. At British Sugar we continue to look at ways to reduce any waste from the sugar production process as much as we possibly can, and this is yet another initiative to be able to deliver on this.”

Elliott Fisher, British Sugar’s Site General Manager at Wissington comments: “As a site we are always looking at ways to use every part of the sugar beet that is delivered to our factory. We generate large amounts of CO₂ through the fermentation process when producing bioethanol so to be able to reuse this on site, to deliver a reliable supply of biogenic CO₂ is important in helping to increase the country’s domestic supply.”