Circular economy spins up to save forest experiment

The experiment, based in rural Staffordshire, is called FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) and is designed to investigate what happens when elevated CO2 levels – similar to those predicted to be the norm by 2050 – are introduced into a forest without any attempt at containment.

The huge challenge of rising CO2 costs had threatened the continuation of the experiment, but RenEco Ltd has agreed to supply the gas to the experiment from their Goosey Lodge facility, which is the UK’s largest anaerobic digestion plant for food waste.

The plant, based in Northamptonshire, is capable of producing 22,000 tonnes of food grade CO2 per year and started deliveries on 1 April 2024 – the first day of the ‘measuring season’ for the experiment.

In recognition of the world leading research that is undertaken at BIFoR FACE and within the wider University community, the income / savings generated from this partnership are being provided back to the University of Birmingham.

This will include a £150,000 gift that will enable the FACE team, part of the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), to upgrade its operating systems to ensure the experiment is able to continue gathering data until at least 2031, the current predicted end date of the experiment.

In addition, RenEco has also agreed to fund a scholarship programme, beginning in September 2024, that will enable six RenEco BIFoR PhD scholarships focusing on carbon and nutrient cycling, clean energy, decarbonisation, bioremediation, clean air-water-soil and carbon capture.

William Wykes, Director of RenEco, said: “Identifying opportunities to extract value from waste and support circular economies are helping us accelerate the move away from fossil fuels. We are delighted to be working with BIFoR and the University of Birmingham supporting their efforts to learn more about the effects of rising CO2 levels within the atmosphere; investigating ways in which this carbon can be captured using forests and their supportive eco systems.

“We are determined that our ongoing collaboration with the institution will bring future learnings, developments and opportunities to generate additional advanced products from waste!”

The FACE experiment started operations in 2017, funded by a £50 million charitable gift and university investment. Scientists at the facility measure the response of the forest and its ability to absorb the increased carbon. Early results have already shown changes to the leaves of trees in the CO2-rich air, increasing their rates of photosynthesis.

The RenEco AD plant generates biogas from food and agricultural wastes including unwanted sandwiches and ready meals and is a key part of RenEco’s vision to provide sustainable circular solutions for its wider customer base. Methane gas and CO2 are the two main products from the AD process, these are separated and refined in a new process which is part of the ongoing investment RenEco is making to produce advanced products from waste. The methane is used either on site for energy generation or liquified using renewable electricity to produce a HGV biofuel, in the form of Bio LNG. CO2 from this process is captured and also liquified for use as a product within the food grade CO2 supply chain. Both these products replace the requirement of fossil derived products.

The new agreement with the university enables the company to minimise its own reliance on fossil fuels, while also providing a truly sustainable CO2 stream to BIFoR FACE, enabling it to reduce its own CO2 footprint by around 6,000 tonnes per year.

Professor Adam Tickell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, said: “This partnership represents a shared passion for sustainability, carbon neutrality and responsible business. The FACE experiment is already providing valuable data about our future atmosphere that could not be generated in any other way, so I am delighted that its future has been secured, and in a way that demonstrates the potential of a truly carbon neutral and circular economy.”