The inclusion of a recommendation on anaerobic digestion (AD) and biomethane in the Food Vision Dairy Group’s final report has been welcomed by the Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI).
The report, which was presented to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue on Tuesday (October 25), recommends using AD biomethane to decarbonise thermal demand within the dairy industry.
Recommendation 15 states that AD plants and biomethane production can form a viable diversification opportunity for dairy farms and outlines the environmental benefits that can result. The report states:
“Direct benefits to the agriculture inventory can also occur where agricultural land previously supporting ruminants is used as gross feedstocks for AD instead.
“There are also possibilities to enable reducing emissions by using AD digestate as fertiliser and act as substitutes for traditional chemical fertilisers.”
The Irish government’s current target, is to increase indigenous biomethane production to 5.7TWh by 2030.
However, 150 to 200 large scale agricultural AD plants would need to be developed within eight years to achieve this target.
Chairman of RGFI, JP Prendergast said that biomethane has the potential to reduce Europe’s dependency on natural gas from Russia in a cost-effective way and can help to diversify farmers’ incomes while contributing to energy price stability.
He stated:
“Undoubtedly, biomethane can be an integral part of developing a sustainable farming sector, however the industry in Ireland is in its infancy.”
“Therefore need policy, regulatory and capital funding support with the establishment of a renewable heat obligation scheme, as well as significant scaling up and cost-efficiencies to contribute at the scale and pace envisaged by both the EU Commission and the Irish government.”
Prendergast added that the development of an advanced AD biomethane industry in Ireland will be discussed at the RGFI’s Biomethane Conference and Knowledge Sharing, which will take place on November 9 and 10 in Dublin.
The conference is set to hear from climate change and energy experts from the US, Europe and Ireland, Harmen Dekker, CEO of the European Biogas Association, March Pacheco, Dean of the Massachusetts Senate and Minister McConalogue.
Industry representatives and stakeholders will also be speaking over the course of the event, on topics including funding for AD biomethane, industrial decarbonisation, sustainable feedstock, bioeconomy and transport.