BRITAIN'S HILLS are alive with suffocating bracken – but a new biofuel project aims to make bracken clearance worthwhile, perhaps even profitable.

Jeremy Oakley, of Oakland Biofuels, explains...

"Maybe it is due to climate change, to the costs associated with management, to the reduced livestock numbers or the shortage of farm labour but bracken, along with a number of other species of biomass with little value, is spreading almost out of control in many areas of the UK.

The spread of bracken can be linked with increasing incidents of wildfires, with virtually singlehandedly wiping out large areas of biodiversity, with causing possible damage to archaeological and environmentally sensitive sites and even with causing toxicity in animals and in rural water supplies. The dense mat of bracken litter building up over many years may even be a contributory factor in rainfall runoff in times of flood and it seems that there is a reported increase in the number of tick borne diseases in both humans and animals.

However, contrary to popular belief it may not be as bad as it sounds and its regular management could give the UK new opportunities in renewable energy, carbon sequestration and even biopharmaceuticals. Oakland Biofuels Ltd has been working to develop solutions that overcome the problems of the growth of invasive species, the reduction in income and lack of employment opportunities in upland areas, the forthcoming changes to the agricultural subsidy arrangements, the shortage of truly sustainable renewable energy generation and the need for the UK to decarbonise transportation primarily through the production of advanced cellulosic biofuels.

Oakland has recognised that any reliance on food crops for energy generation of any type will always be subject to fluctuations in commodity prices which can make production costs unpredictable and resultant profits uncertain. This has been evidenced by the number of bioethanol plant failures in the past and the subsequent drive to achieve an economic return based on the use of non-food crops has had mixed results.

Although the technology exists to produce bioethanol from non-food crops, the cost of production has always been comparatively high. Even now a typical ‘second generation’ (the conversion of cellulose) bioethanol plant continues to rely on a crop that is planted annually and which utilizes valuable land that could be used for food production. As a result any savings that have been identified in terms of either the cost of the equipment or in the processing of the feedstock have been insufficient to compete with bioethanol produced using ‘first generation’ (the conversion of starch) technology and those second generation plants that are in existence are either pilot schemes or (as in the case of the USA/EU) heavily subsidised.

In light of this Oakland has researched the possibility of using plant material from naturally growing perennial biomass for which there is no apparent use, green waste and other organic material that contains sufficient quantities of the appropriate sugars from which bioethanol could be derived. In the uplands of the UK, the biomass of choice is bracken and subsequent tests have shown that this contains the necessary sugars in sufficient quantity for high quality bioethanol production plus it also has other properties that could be used beneficially.

Additionally, as part of its ongoing research, Oakland has confirmed that other low value biomass material including brash, gorse, rushes, sawdust, molinia, rhododendron, japanese knotweed, leaves, verge mowing material and municipal garden waste can all be used in the same way as bracken. The harvesting and use of heather could also produce a significant volume of biomass and remove the reliance on patchwork burning on the grouse moors.

We have identified a method that facilitates the effective control of many upland biomass species by cutting and removing them using low ground pressure equipment from partners in Switzerland. The equipment is capable of operating on steep, uneven, environmentally sensitive and wet terrain and can be operated remotely under certain conditions. Once cut, the material is baled, wrapped and stored prior to being transported to a dedicated processing plant to be converted into bioethanol. The project will be assisted in its goals by new drone technology capable of obstacle detection in growing bracken as well as drone remote yield mapping. Combining these innovations gives access to many areas previously considered inaccessible to traditional agricultural equipment and once available within a specific area could be used outside the harvesting season for other land management tasks.

Oakland has teamed up with a biomass conversion technology developer from the UK that has developed and patented a technology that maximises the production of C5 and C6 sugars – and therefore the yield of bioethanol – from the various feedstocks. The subsequent processes of fermentation and distillation are standard chemical procedures and are integrated with the biofuel technology to achieve maximum efficiency in conversion. Likewise the technology capitalises on the production of high grade pure lignin which means, as a result of working with European partners, the project will shortly be able to turn this by-product into green hydrogen for the energy market.

Read more: Asulam emergency authorisation approved for bracken control

Recent advances in external technology also allow the project to bolt on a standalone unit to capture the CO2 produced in fermentation and purify it for use in the UK food and drink industries thereby replacing that currently produced from fossil fuels. Recent support from the UK Department of Transport means the use of this low value biomass for advanced biofuels has led to its inclusion within the RTFO as a waste product which is therefore subject to double production credits, making smaller localised rurally based projects cost effective.

Furthermore, managing the biomass, as opposed to eradicating it, creates ideal conditions for the sequestration of atmospheric carbon as highlighted within a number of current UK University research projects. This could produce carbon offset income opportunities for landowners as a direct benefit alongside income and employment generation in an upland community seen as being at economic risk. Additional indirect benefits can include improved biodiversity where invasive species have reduced the more natural ones, a reduction in wildfires, improved quality of rural water supplies, improved access for tourism into the uplands, a shift away from biomass control using expensive agrochemicals and their methods of application and improved winter grazing. However, the aim of this project is not to materially alter the landscape value in areas of natural beauty and so management plans for biodiversity, wildlife and amenity value can be developed with local partners.

Oakland proposes to work with landowners and managers to secure sufficient sources of bracken, roadside verge and municipal garden waste plus other local cellulosic materials to enable it to build and operate a bioethanol plant in a number of regions of the UK. The technology will be a replica of a facility nearing completion in Nottingham and will require 40,000 tonnes of fresh biomass. In simple bracken terms this would equate to @ 1,500 hectares. Outputs from a project will be @ 12 million litres of 98.7% bioethanol suitable for blending with petrol within the E10 fuel mandate, @ 8,000 tonnes of food grade CO2 and @ 10,000 tonnes of lignin to be exported to a separate Hydrogen project that could be developed within the same region. The bracken to bioethanol project alone will create 30 – 35 full time jobs split between biomass collection and plant operation and will bring an investment of @ £18m into a region as a standalone project.

The argument always aimed at biofuel projects is that they damage the environment – the clearance of rainforest for palm oil plantations is a typical example – but in this instance it becomes possible for advanced biofuel projects to enhance the environment rather than destroy it. Using low value biomass from land that is difficult to farm removes the need for food producing land to be adapted to energy production and maybe now as the future of upland farming faces economic and environmental pressures perhaps farmers can become energy producers in their own right, as opposed to simply earning rental income for wind and solar projects."