Planning permission is being sought for the development of a biomass pellet production facility in Co. Leitrim.
Desmond Rooney has made a planning application to Leitrim County Council to change the use of an existing treatment facility for recovery of end-of-life vehicles at Kiltoghert, Carrick-on-Shannon.
A shed, which is currently used for oil depollution, will be used for the storage of biomass.
The current bunded oil area, including all ancillary works, will be demolished and removed.
What is biomass renewable energy processing?
According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), “forests, farms and everyday organic waste can provide us with biomass fuel; but sources vary in availability, cost and the amount of carbon dioxide they save”.
Based on availability and existing market prices, forestry and the byproducts of the forestry industry have the largest biomass resource potential.
“Right now, most of our bioenergy comes from sawdust and off-cuts which are byproducts of the forestry industry.”
Other agricultural byproducts can include: wheat; straw; slurry; silage; and waste food.
Solar panels on sheds a ‘win-win’
In other environmental news, farmers should be incentivised to put solar panels on their sheds to help generate clean energy and reduce damaging greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s the recommendation from the Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly, who spoke on EuroParlRadio.
He was responding to this week’s announcement by the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen to reduce carbon emissions in the EU by at least 55% by 2030.
Kelly, an MEP for Ireland South, says there are plenty of things farmers can do to go green. Speaking to Karen Coleman of EuroParlRadio, he said:
Look at all the sheds around the country; massive sheds, big sheds on every farm – and no solar panels on them. That’s a win-win without any difficulty in the world.
“And then you have the whole question of having anaerobic digesters which would mean that slurry, grass and so forth could be utilised to create energy.
“The Germans have 11,000 of these – and in Ireland we have 11. I visited an anaerobic digester plant down in Timoleague [Co. Cork] and it is fantastic. It will serve the neighbourhood.
“You could have one of these in nearly every parish, and that would reduce emissions enormously,” the MEP contended.