A Fianna Fáil MEP has said that Ireland has been ‘lethargic’ in terms of developing policy for anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities.
Addressing the Kerry Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) AGM last night (Thursday, February 25), Billy Kelleher said that the dairy herd will pose a “challenge” in the coming years in terms of climate change demands.
The Ireland South MEP said that methane gas emissions from cows will have a “negative impact” on Ireland’s ability to meet national and European targets.
However, he said that we can be creative and innovative in using the technologies that currently exist, including AD.
Kelleher said that this technology would be a key component in addressing issues coming from the poultry, pig and dairy sectors by using the waste from these systems to create biogas for home heating and heavy good vehicles (HGVs).
The MEP also said that there would be a huge opportunity for farms to grow “food” for AD facilities.
The MEP told the meeting that there are over 4,000 AD units in Germany, hundreds in Denmark and there will be thousands in France in the coming years. He noted that many farms in France now have AD facilities on site.
However, he stated that in Ireland there are only around 12 AD facilities.
“We are coming to the stage where our production systems are coming under the spotlight in terms of emissions and we are not doing enough, in my view, at a policy level.
“We are not reinventing the wheel; this is happening in Denmark, Holland and particularly Germany and yet we have been very lethargic in doing what is so obvious and so necessary.
“Otherwise, we will end up in a few years’ time taking a deep breath and telling farmers that they’ll have to curtail the number of animals on farms,” Kelleher told the meeting.
The MEP also noted that a value needs to be put on carbon so that farmers can be financially rewarded for carbon sequestration measures they implement, such as widening hedgerows.
Kelleher explained that a farmer’s “carbon capture” could be sold or rented out to companies needing to offset emissions.
“The real issue is to reward farmers for making investment in more sustainable types of farming. Carbon sequestering has to be remunerated otherwise we will be forever arguing over schemes rather than doing what you’re good at, which is farming,” the MEP said.