UK companies go green, boosting biofuels

By Nigel Hunt

LONDON (Reuters) - A growing focus among major UK companies on the environment is boosting the biofuels industry, Greenergy Chief Executive Andrew Owens said on Wednesday.

"People have connected to biofuels for corporate carbon management reasons. Certainly in the UK this is a very positive development for biofuels," Owens, who heads Britain's leading biofuels supplier, told the Reuters Global Biofuel Summit.

Earlier this week UK retailer Marks and Spencer (MKS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), for example, announced it was planning to move its fleet of delivery trucks to B50, a blend of 50 percent biodiesel and 50 percent petroleum diesel.

Owens said the trend started around March or April last year, with large corporations looking to meet the needs of ethical consumers.

"This has come out of the blue. We weren't forecasting it. It started coming at us like a whirlwind and I just see it accelerating," he said.

Biofuels can be substituted for fossil fuels and are seen as a way to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases believed to contribute to global warming. Grains, vegetable oils and sugar are among the industry's feedstocks.

Growing interest in environmental and ethical issues has not been restricted to the energy sector.

Britain's top three food retailers, Tesco (TSCO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Wal-Mart ASDA (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Sainsbury (SBRY.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), have ramped up organic food lines and switched to more environmentally friendly packaging.  Continued...