asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology in their application for a research grant from the European Community towards a project for developing the use of bracken as a source of energy.

The Institute of Terrestrial Ecology continues a programme of research into the use of plant species as alternative sources of energy. The programme is supported by the science budget through the Natural Environment Research Council and by the appropriate customer bodies, including the European Community. Following negotiations with the Commission of the European Community, two proposals have been proposed for, respectively, the Small Scale Research and Development and the Energy Conservation (Demonstration Projects) Programmes, to study bracken as a source of energy. The institute intend to submit these proposals if and when the Commission calls for tenders, which I understand may well be in early 1984.