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Announcing its third Annual Review, FFD said "Greenergy International Ltd, which led the [oil and gas] sector and was also one of the most improved companies overall in terms of the depth of their disclosure, demonstrates that it can be done and is leading the way for others to follow."

Greenergy Managing Director, Tamara Earley said "We believe fundamentally that disclosure drives improvement, and we're delighted to be recognised as sector leader for a second time.

"We have significantly reduced our use of crop-based biofuels by investing in biodiesel production from waste streams we were previously unable to use. For our remaining biofuels, we have worked with individual suppliers to obtain land use and carbon information, recognising that when we use the world resources for biofuels, we must do so responsibly. We have also used BioCarbon Tracker as a unique and engaging medium through which to explain the origin of our biofuels, and we encourage other businesses to follow our lead."

Other sector leaders recognised for the second consecutive year included British Airways, Drax Group, Marks and Spencer, J Sainsbury and Reed Elesvier.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive, commented:

"Our new facilities in Cardiff give us our own distribution facilities in South Wales for the first time, and the opportunity to increase sales in the region. Commercial sales from the terminal began in the first week of January and we have been phasing in additional customers over the past few weeks. We expect to reach full capacity during Q2 this calendar year.

"Completion of the terminal gives us control over stock availability and product quality in the Cardiff area, allowing us to achieve even higher levels of resilience for our customers. We are also increasing our own productivity by using rail to move fuel between Cardiff and our other UK terminals."

Use of rail freight allows Greenergy to make smaller, but more frequent deliveries than would be economic by ship, allowing the company to operate in Cardiff with higher throughput and capacity utilisation than would otherwise be possible.

The Cardiff terminal was developed in a partnership between Greenergy and Inver Energy, an established tank storage operator. It follows investments by Greenergy in storage and distribution facilities at Teesside, Plymouth and Thames estuary.

The standard marks the next step in the development of Greenergy's international biofuel supply and blending business and follows the recent accreditation of its Brazilian bioethanol sustainability standard under the EU Renewable Energy Directive.

Paul Bateson, COO of Greenergy, commented:

"The production, sale and blending of U.S biodiesel, alongside supply of Brazilian sugarcane ethanol into the U.S, complements our biofuel and petroleum business in Europe. As we expand, we want to ensure the same level of trust with our trading counterparties that we have enjoyed in Europe over many years of demonstrating our supply chain management capability."

"There have been concerns over the trading of fraudulent and invalid RINs in the U.S. market. Our new Integrity Standard for RIN verification and traceability is intended to address such concerns and establish a unique level of transparency in the marketplace. To my understanding it is the first of its kind in the U.S."

The Greenergy RIN Integrity Standard (GRIS) requires third party auditors to verify that biofuel has been produced in the stated quantities and according to Environmental Protection Agency requirements. Independent auditors will be required to visit selected production sites for initial certification, and then on an annual basis to confirm production processes, output, feedstocks and supply chain traceability, according to audit procedures that encompass and exceed the existing EPA RFS2 attestation requirements.

Stringent audits involving documentation verification for sugarcane ethanol production will be a key function of the GRIS for sugarcane ethanol imports into the US for D5 RIN generation.

Greenergy will undergo quarterly audits by third party auditors to ensure that it is strictly adhering to enhanced RIN verification and handling procedures. These requirements include:

• Traceability on K2 RINS including K1-K2 conversion method; and
• Documentary requirements attesting that RINless renewable fuel is handled upstream and downstream according to EPA RFS2 regulations.

The standard will be applied to biofuel and RINs purchased and supplied by Greenergy in the U.S.

Greenergy, one of the largest fuel suppliers in the UK, announced today that its gold standard sustainability criteria for Brazilian bioethanol has become one of the first voluntary sustainability schemes to gain formal approval by the European Commission under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). Approval grants Greenergy the ability to supply sustainable bioethanol from its unique supply chain into all 27 EU countries.

The Renewable Energy Directive sets mandatory sustainability requirements for biofuels to be sold in the EU. However individual EU Member States are interpreting the Directive in varying ways, creating different biofuel sustainability rules in specific markets and making it difficult for companies to supply across borders or procure on the basis of common standards.

European Commission approval of Greenergy's sustainability criteria as a common European standard means that Greenergy can now supply a certified bioethanol product offering very high greenhouse gas savings and automatically satisfying the sustainability rules of all 27 EU countries.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive, commented:

"Ours is one of the first voluntary sustainability schemes to be approved at EU level and we are proud to be first mover again, setting higher standards for the biofuel sector. We now have a product that guarantees compliance with all national sustainability requirements. This puts us in the position to supply sustainable bioethanol to customers across Europe and to seek supply partnerships in new markets."

Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger said:

"We need to make sure that the entire biofuels' production and supply chain is sustainable. This is why we have set the highest sustainability standards in the world. The schemes recognised on the EU level today are a good example of a transparent and reliable system which ensures that these high standards are met."

Greenergy has been sourcing ethanol from Brazil for more than five years and, with the creation of Greenergy Brazil in January 2010, has a permanent buying and sustainability team in Brazil. The team has long-term commercial relationships with Brazilian mills, all of which have demonstrated significant ongoing commitment to meeting Greenergy's gold standard criteria. Since 2010, 100% of the bioethanol supplied from Greenergy Brazil to Europe has complied with Greenergy's gold standard sustainability criteria.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy co-founder and Chief Executive said:

"We’ve experienced remarkable growth since we began as a bedroom start-up nearly 20 years ago - yet there is as much opportunity to grow our business now as at any point in the past. Our growth has been achieved by maintaining a low cost/high efficiency operation. Going forward, our focus will be on further extending these benefits to our customers’ operations.

"I’d like to thank the team at Greenergy for their ongoing commitment as we work together to achieve this."

This new initiative helps to reduce the environmental impact of the fuel that Greenergy produces while also creating a new, alternative source of fuel.

Greenergy has invested £50 million in its biodiesel production facility in Immingham on the east coast of England in order to efficiently process used cooking oils, which are more complicated to process than "new" oils such as rapeseed. The company already uses significant quantities (more than 20 million litres a month) of biodiesel from used cooking oil supplied from a range of food producers.

In order to extend its use of waste-based biofuel even further, Greenergy is now beginning to make biodiesel from high fat solid foods such as pies, sausage rolls, pastry and crisps which are not fit for sale because they are mis-shapen, overcooked or past their sell by date. These food products, which typically contain between 25% and 30% oil and fat, are sourced from a variety of food manufacturers nationally. Other suitable foods include taramasalata and oil from fish frying containing high quantities of breadcrumbs.

The oils and fats in these foods are extracted through a novel process developed by Brocklesby Ltd and are then further purified by Greenergy. Only then are the oils and fats clean enough to be suitable for conversion into biodiesel. The finished biodiesel is blended in small quantities into the diesel that Greenergy supplies to petrol stations nationally.

Any food solids that remain after processing are currently dried and then either composted or used to produce energy through anaerobic digestion, but in future could be used to make solid biomass fuel pellets or briquettes, or more fuel for cars in the form of bioethanol. Waste water is used as a biomass crop fertiliser.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive said:

"We’ve always tried to find ways of reducing the environmental impact of our fuel and as oil prices continue to rise, it’s obviously important to develop alternative sources of fuel. We are pleased to be at the forefront of finding new feedstocks for biodiesel production.

"The quantities of biodiesel that we’re currently producing from solid food waste are small, but we’re expecting to scale up so that this soon becomes a significant proportion of our biodiesel. To put it into context, just one of these new facilities could handle enough waste pies or crisps to fill a cruise ship. With multiple plants, the potential for this kind of technology to reduce fuel emissions is considerable.

"It’s great to be taking these products, which would otherwise have gone to landfill or compost, and turning them into a new source of fuel".

Andrew Owens, Executive Chairman said:

"We are committed to providing detailed information about the origin of our biofuels - not just to FFD, but also through BioCarbon Tracker and our own website. Like FFD, we see disclosure as an end in its own right, a driver for continuous improvement."

For more information see www.forestdisclosure.com

Andrew Owens, Executive Chairman said: "Being awarded company of the year is a great tribute to the hard work the team at Greenergy put in day after day to deliver efficiency and excellence across all areas of our business."

The Growing Business Awards was attended by many of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and addressed by the Enterprise Minister, Mark Prisk. This year’s event was held at the London Marriott Grosvenor Square. The 2010 awards judging panel was headed by James Caan of Dragons Den and included former winners of Company of the Year Simon Calver CEO, LOVEFilm and Will Young, CEO, King of Shaves.

Prior to joining Greenergy, Paul Lester was Chief Executive of support services company VT Group which was recently acquired by Babcock International Group. He has served as the Group Managing Director at Balfour Beatty and held a number of board or senior management positions at engineering and support services companies in both the UK and the US.

Andrew Owens, Chief Executive, Greenergy International, said:

"Greenergy has grown more than I could imagine since the business was formed in 1992. We are now a complex company with international operations requiring more than an entrepreneur’s enthusiasm. We need new skills within a business of our size and Paul brings to Greenergy the ability to manage a large organisation."

Paul Lester, upon his appointment, said:

"I am looking forward to working with Andrew and the team at Greenergy. It has been an incredible success story from bedroom start-up to one of the largest fuel suppliers in the UK. The company is respected in the industry for its commitment to be the best in what it does. Andrew has created a solid foundation and an ambitious team and I look forward to continuing its rapid growth."

The addition of a terminal in Cardiff will also see the integration of rail haulage into Greenergy’s distribution network, with fuel being moved between Cardiff and other UK coastal terminals by rail rather than road or ship. More extensive use of rail distribution to include various inland terminals across the UK is planned.

The Cardiff terminal is being developed in a long-term partnership between Greenergy and Inver, an established tank storage operator. The project, due for completion in autumn 2011, will involve both the construction of new tankage as well as refurbishment of existing tanks. New rail loading facilities will also be created at the site.

Andrew Owens, Greenergy Chief Executive commented:

"The Cardiff terminal will strengthen our fuel distribution capability in an under-supplied part of the UK, where tankage and infrastructure are insufficient to meet the demand for fuel in the area. Operating in Cardiff will also give us valuable experience in rail distribution, which we expect to utilise in other areas in the UK."

With the addition of Teesside, Plymouth and Cardiff to the Greenergy network, the company has now completed its expansion into target British coastal locations. It is now looking to establish a position at further inland locations, completing a comprehensive UK tankage and distribution network to meet the needs of its growing customer base.

Scarab will make use of proven, commercially viable, technologies owned by consortium members. It plans to put in place the technology and facilities to be able to process any form of industrial food waste, whether sugar, starch, fat, protein or cellulose. In due course this could be expanded to include domestic food waste.

Today’s biofuels are produced either from food crops or from waste oils and animal fats, with the latter in particularly limited supply. By targeting a wide variety of currently underutilised waste streams, Scarab will extend the range of raw material feedstocks available for biofuel production and enhance Greenergy’s access to the most sustainable sources of biofuel.

Uniquely Scarab intends to adopt a decentralised approach, with processing facilities located close to the waste source and capable of being economically scaled down to match local volumes. This will cut the transport costs associated with high-volume, low-value and perishable products, as well as saving transport-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The consortium, led by Chief Executive Officer, Neil Bennett, brings together six partners: Greenergy which will purchase all fuel produced by Scarab; St1 Biofuels, a Finnish bioethanol from waste producer; EEA, an environmental investment fund manager and carbon trading business; Aquafuel Research offering patented technology for renewable CHP; Brocklesby with expertise in food waste handling and logistics; and Axion Consulting with specialist project management expertise in the resource recovery sector.

Scarab is planning to commence biofuel production in 2011.