AB Foods to Build Biofuel Plant

Associated British Foods, which serves the world Twinings Teas, plans to build a new biofuel plant in Britain.

The food group formed a joint venture with BP and DuPont to build the plant in Hull at a cost of roughly $400 million, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. Associated British Foods and BP will each hold 45 percent of the joint venture, with DuPont owning 10 percent.

The factory in Hull will produce ethanol from wheat, official said. It is expected to begin operations in 2009, producing about 111 million gallons of ethanol a year.

Under government regulations on biofuels, which substitute for gasoline and can cut greenhouse gas emissions, gasoline companies must blend 5 percent ethanol with their fuel by 2010. The new plant will provide a third of the biofuel required to meet the requirement in Britain.