Teesside site mothballed in September given £100m by government to restart production for at least three months
A shuttered carbon dioxide plant is to reopen on Teesside with £100m of government investment in response to fears the war in Iran could trigger shortages of the gas that multiple industries rely on.
The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has approved the reopening of the Ensus plant to help bolster production of CO2, which has uses ranging from carbonating drinks and keeping food fresh to medical procedures and the sedating of animals for slaughter.
The plant was mothballed in September, after Keir Starmer’s trade deal with Donald Trump cut tariffs for imports of bioethanol from the US. CO2 is a byproduct of the production of ethanol – a petrol substitute produced from agricultural products.
An unnamed UK government official told the Financial Times, which first reported the move: “The irony is that the plant was shut because of a deal with Trump and now it’s reopening because of Trump’s war in Iran.”
