How is the automotive sector changing as it transitions to low carbon technologies? ‘The biggest change for the automotive sector is obviously the move away from internal combustion engines (ICEs) to electric vehicles. This has been driven by legislation, meaning that by 2030 no new diesel or petrol cars can be sold in the UK. Then, by 2035, there’ll be an end to hybrid cars, which have been a useful bridging technology, whilst all new heavy goods vehicles in the UK will be zero-emission by 2040.

On Delivering Net Zero The UK has committed to decarbonising its electricity system by 2035 and delivering Net Zero emissions by 2050. To achieve these goals, what are the main challenges facing UK industry, including the Teesside cluster? ‘The main challenge is around the systems that enable businesses to work together. Decarbonisation is a complex project and needs to be considered at scale – at the level of cities or industrial clusters.

UK motorists have seen a move towards a more environmentally friendly way to travel with the introduction of E10 standard petrol in September 2021. The ‘E’ in E10 petrol is ethanol, a form of alcohol which is blended with petrol to create a fuel that helps reduce CO2 emissions from vehicles, compared with standard petrol. E10 became the standard petrol on most British forecourts from September 2021, with Northern Ireland adopting the change in early 2022.

Your browser does not support SVG Excellent logistics infrastructure is a key requirement for businesses investing in large-scale industrial facilities. It can also be prohibitively expensive to build from scratch. Which is why it usually makes sense for companies to invest in places where a concentration of industry has already given rise to a complex of freight transport infrastructure and services. In other words, it’s one of the reasons why investing businesses choose to locate within established industrial clusters.

Global factors are driving the growth of innovation in food production. Forecasters suggest that there will be a 70% increase in calorific demand by 2050 due to growth in world population2. At the same time, countries are committing to decreasing the output of greenhouse gases, more than 25% of which come from agriculture, forestry, and land-use change2. Additionally, in developed nations there is demand for alternative proteins led by a swing towards plant based vegetarian and vegan diets, with research showing that about 30% of UK adults plan to eat more meat-free products in 2021 than in 20203.

A challenging year for biotech and pharma companies Since early 2020, supply chains globally have been under great strain due to the effects of the pandemic on both trade and production. Biotech and pharma companies have faced the challenge of producing new vaccines, tests and treatments at a rate that would previously have been unthinkable, at a time when countries across the world have been under lockdown, with increasingly tight borders.

Teesside’s Winning Freeport Bid Covering more than 4,500 acres of land, the equivalent of 2,250 football pitches, Teesside’s will be the largest of the UK’s 8 new Freeport zones. And the successful bid provides an excellent example of what can be achieved when Teesside’s industrial cluster, with public and private sector partners including local authorities and ports, work together. The Freeport zone includes ten distinct areas on or close to the River Tees, with forecasts estimating the attraction of more than 18,000 jobs to the area over five years, and a £3.

Whether it’s woody residues or non-edible agricultural crop residues, the chances are that cleantech innovators Nova Pangaea can turn your forestry and agriculture residues into something as valuable as it is environmentally friendly. “We process residue biomass from agricultural or forestry customers,” explains Neil Guilder, Nova Pangaea’s CFO. “That gives us valuable sugars and biocarbons such as biochar and activated carbon. The sugars can be turned into bioethanol, biopolymers and biochemicals, while the biochar can be used for soil enhancers, sustainable solid fuels, or be further processed to activated carbon, used for air and water filtration and green steel.

From chemicals and plastics to steel and electronics, industry has a wide range of essential uses for nitrogen, as Carl Shuttleworth explains: “Businesses in the chemical and process sectors need large-scale nitrogen supplies because it’s an inert gas. It doesn’t react with other agents and it prevents the oxidation of materials, which is very useful,” Carl says. “Nitrogen is widely used to prevent fires and explosions in dangerous environments, by lowering the oxygen level below explosive limits.

Direct deep sea port access Located just 2 miles from the Wilton International site, Teesport is a major deep sea port, ranked 7th in the UK by tonnage and in the UK top 5 for liquid bulk. Handling diverse cargo types Teesport handles multiple cargo types – container, ro-ro, dry bulk, liquid bulk, general and project – enabling logistics efficiency, flexibility and security. Global sea freight connectivity Teesport delivers a comprehensive range of sea freight services: global deep sea, European short sea and European hub feeders (e.

A specialist chemicals sector workforce Amongst the UK’s major chemicals cluster locations, Wilton International ranks 1st (jointly) for access to primary chemicals manufacturing workers. A highly skilled scientific R&D workforce Wilton International also ranks No.1 - by a significant margin - for access to a large-scale scientific R&D workforce, making it the UK location of choice for process industry investments with significant R&D elements. Combining skills with cost savings Wilton International combines a skilled chemicals, process industries and R&D workforce with significant average labour costs savings versus competitor UK locations and the Great Britain average.

As one of the UK’s major centres of heavy industry, Teesside is often described in terms of big numbers, and that applies to the area’s labour force as well as its production capabilities. With a sector workforce concentration of 11 X the Great Britain average, it is, based on this recognised indicator, the UK’s outstanding cluster of primary chemicals manufacturing businesses. Perhaps more surprisingly, at least to those not in the know, the area is also home to around 3,000 scientific R&D workers, making it a clear leader for research and development activities amongst the UK’s process industry hubs.

The circular economy – for sustainability and business efficiency A circular economy recognises that the resources we use are limited. In most cases, we can get more life out of materials by using and re-using them as efficiently as possible, whether that means linking up with other businesses to find a profitable use of by-products and waste, or designing goods that can be made with recycled materials. The idea of a circular economy is closely related to sustainability and being eco-friendly.

Grant Pearson - Commercial Director ENSUS, Mark Kenrick - Chairman of NEPIC and Ben Houchen - Tees Valley Mayor talk about Circular Economy businesses at Wilton International. Wilton International’s Circular Economy - sustainable fuels, sustainable energy, waste to fuels, waste to products, plastics recycling, clean growth. ';" class="embed-container" style="background-image: url('https://res.cloudinary.com/wilton/image/upload/v1579082236/Wilton_11.jpg');background-repeat:no-repeat;background-size:cover;"

As one of the largest and most important industrial sites in the country, Wilton International is home to several operations that the government regards as essential. Many of their products and services are fundamental to modern life, including the key tasks of providing our health service with vital equipment and powering our homes and workplaces. These businesses are continuing to run through the crisis, with dedicated plant operators, maintenance teams and other personnel working as normal, while complying with new social distancing and hygiene rules.

SABIC, one of the world’s largest petrochemicals manufacturers, recently upgraded their ‘cracker’ at Wilton International (Olefins 6), to run on ethane imported from the USA. The project took two years to deliver, at a cost of £300 million. The company now runs the most feedstock-flexible cracker in Europe, producing ethylene, propylene and butadiene - essential chemical building blocks for many everyday products. A complex industrial investment project The project was multi-faceted, with input from partners across Teesside and beyond.

Business Leaders Point to Bright Future for the Tees Valley Jul 04, 2019 Nomi Ahmad (second right) sat on a panel with (left to right Frans Calje, CEO of PD Ports, Daren Smith, Site Director SABIC Petrochemicals UK and Sharon Lane, MD Tees Components. Not in picture Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley. Nomi Ahmad joined a distinguished and influential panel of speakers at a special event aimed at Teesside’s burgeoning business community.