Engaging with local communities is key to successful planning applications for anaerobic digestion (AD) biomethane plants, a recent Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) meeting heard.
Under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan, the government has committed to deliver up to 5.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) of indigenously produced biomethane by 2030.
This will require around 200 new AD plants to be constructed around the country. Around 3-4% of the grassland area of Ireland would be needed for the plants.
Renewable gas – biomethane – is produced from organic biodegradable materials such as slurry and crop residues when they are broken down in an oxygen-free environment such as an anaerobic digester.
A 20 gigawatt hour (GWh) biomethane plant would require about 37,000t of feedstock: 60% of that would be crops and 40% would be animal slurry.
A dedicated biomethane working group, chaired by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM), has been established by government to oversee the development a National Biomethane Strategy.
This strategy, which is part of Ireland’s Common Agriculture Policy Strategic Plan (CSP), is earmarked for delivery in the third quarter of this year.
PJ McCarthy, chief executive of Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI), was the guest speaker at a meeting of the Limerick IFA county executive this week.
Established in 2014, RGFI is an all-island industry forum to represent the interests of the renewable gas industry and gas consumers.
The RGFI vision is for an agriculture-led, farm-based and scalable AD biomethane industry as a central part of the circular bioeconomy.
One of the farmers at the meeting questioned if the proposed number of AD plants could make their way through the planning system by the end of the decade
“I’ve been personally involved in AD plants in different locations in the country. The one distinct difference between the AD plants that have got successfully through planning and those that haven’t is engaging with the local community.
“We have promoted that anybody developing an AD plant – go and talk to your neighbours, go and talk to the community, tell them what you’re doing, explain why you’re doing it and lay it on the table.
“Don’t wait for the planning notice to go up on the gate and then tell them.
“We’ve done it. We’ve got planning for a 30GWh agri-feedstock AD plant in seven months,” he said.
Biomethane
McCarthy told the meeting that the National Biomethane Strategy will need buy in from rural Ireland in order to be successful.
He stressed the need for “collaboration and coordination” to achieve the number of AD plants needed to meet government targets.
“Without the agri sector this is not going to get to any meaningful scale,” he said.
“We’re advocating that this integrated business case that we have designed is farmer-centric. This is designed so that any farmer of any discipline can get involved at whatever scale or level they wish.”
McCarthy said that they would like to see the principal and structure of co-ops being applied to the renewable gas industry which would leave the money created in rural Ireland.
RGFI membership includes Dairygold, Aurivo and Lakeland Dairies.
There are more than 20,000 operational AD plants around the EU, and several million globally.
However, there are currently only around 20 plants operating here in Ireland.
The main barrier to the development and expansion of sustainable biomethane is cost
RGFI has called on government for capital funding of 50% in matching funding and additional capital support for the bioeconomy opportunities.