EWE Participates in the Planning of Bio Ethanol Facility
Oldenburg, August 18, 2006. The energy provider EWE AG in Oldenburg is participating for the first time in the planning of the construction of a bio ethanol production plant. Bio ethanol is an alternative to conventional fuels. “After verifying the technical preconditions we will decide whether we will continue to participate in the construction beyond the planning stage”, explains EWE CEO, Dr. Werner Brinker. The investment volume runs to around 85 million euros. EWE holds 22 per cent of the company and is one of the largest of the total of eight shareholders. The other shareholders are medium-sized companies from the region.
The bio ethanol production is, according to Brinker, “a business segment with a high degree of potential” – above all in light of the statutorily stipulated CO² reduction targets. “By acting on bio ethanol we would be promoting a further low-polluting fuel in addition to natural gas”, reports Brinker. EWE has been offering natural gas as a fuel since back in 1998 and now provides around 8 per cent of the natural gas stations in Germany.
The facility to be built on the harbor site in Papenburg is scheduled for completion in 2008. Bio ethanol is obtained from high starch plants (wheat, rye, maize) or sugar cane or beet.
In Germany around 53 million tons of fuel was consumed in 2005; the percentage of fuels from regenerative natural resources amounted to 2 per cent. This percentage is to be expanded in order to further reduce the greenhouse emissions in the transport sector. This is why the member states of the EU have undertaken to replace conventional fuels by at least 5.75 per cent by 2010. Each petrol-run vehicle can tank up on fuel which contains up to 5 per cent of bio ethanol. Additionally, vehicle manufacturers are currently developing engines specially designed to run on ethanol.
EWE backs electricity from regenerative energies
Apart from promoting alternative fuels EWE has also been committed to achieving a sustainable and independent energy supply for many years. For example, EWE utilizes regenerative energies such as wind, sun, biomass and biogas to generate electricity.
In August EWE acquired a biogas facility in Werlte (Emsland region) in which the company already held a 17 per cent stake. The two connected cogeneration power stations with an output of around 2.5 megawatts generate electricity from approximately 110,000 tons of manure and residual material from food production annually. Overall, EWE currently runs three biogas facilities with a total output of 5.6 megawatts. The facilities in Werlte, Wittmund and in the Surwold district constitute a combine, meaning that the other facilities can take deliveries from the biomass suppliers if one facility should be offline. EWE also holds a share of another facility in Nordholz which generates biogas from regenerative raw materials.
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