Ensus go through maize to offset wheat disappointment

UK-based bioethanol producer Ensus has recently been importing European maize for its processes after claiming poor quality wheat stock from home.

The company’s feedstock manager, Stewart Easdon, believes the lower starch yield and bushel weight of UK wheat in 2012 has ‘presented challenges’ in terms both in terms of handling an increased volume needed and the quality and ethanol yield.

Ensus’ plant uses about 80,000 tonnes of raw material a month currently and the maize is costing around the same as the homegrown wheat.

‘We are trialling this to see how we go, but we don’t envisage going to 100% maize,’ Easdon was quoted as saying. ‘We need to balance off the wheat with a higher starch product.’