Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the UK's capacity to manufacture E10 unleaded petrol; and how this has changed since July 2024.

E10 (petrol containing up to 10% bioethanol) was introduced as the standard petrol grade in September 2021. To manufacture E10, fossil petrol is blended with ethanol either at refineries or downstream in the supply network. Accordingly the UK’s capacity to manufacture and supply E10 is impacted by the availability of bioethanol.

On 15 August 2025 Vivergo announced the closure of its UK bioethanol production plant in Hull, which at full capacity could produce 420 million litres of bioethanol per year from wheat for blending with petrol.

Whilst the UK retains bioethanol production capacity elsewhere, the closure of Vivergo represents a significant loss. However, it is not considered likely to impact the manufacture or supply of E10 petrol in the UK. It is expected that the supply of bioethanol for petrol suppliers will continue to be met by both bioethanol produced at the remaining UK plants and by imports.