Machine grants to boost harvest of forest biomass

A HUGE boost for the wood energy supply chain was announced at the Bioenergy ’07 open day in Carlow yesterday.

Pointing out that the harvesting of forest biomass is an integral part of the chain, Forestry Minister Mary Wallace announced that grants of almost €500,000 will be awarded under the Biomass Harvesting Machinery Grant Scheme launched in April.

The grants will support the acquisition of four self-contained whole tree chippers and one medium sized mobile wood chipper, by providing up to 40% of the purchase price of this equipment. The total associated investment amounts to some €1.5 million.

Ms Wallace said they were state-of-the-art machines and heralded an exciting new period in biomass production from Irish forests.

“We are creating a vital link between wood energy producers and wood energy users while, at the same time, ensuring that forest owners receive a fair return on their investment,” she said.

Ms Wallace said she would be announcing a similar scheme shortly, focussing on smaller mobile wood chippers that would provide further opportunities for developing forestry potential at a local level.

“This is a very exciting time for Irish forestry, but we need to keep the momentum up in terms of stable, long-term income.”

She said landowners wishing to plant next year needed to submit their applications without further delay to be sure of approval in time for spring ’08.

Bioenergy ’07 was organised by Sustainable Energy Ireland, the National Council for Forest Research and Development and Teagasc.

It is designed to promote the use of solid biomass and to raise awareness across all sectors on the uses and advantages of growing, harvesting and using wood fuels and crops for energy generation.

Visitors to Bioenergy ’07 were told commercial and public sector buildings are responsible for almost one-fifth of Ireland’s national energy use.

This usage is at a cost of €1 billion and represent eight million tons of CO2 emissions annually.