Conference hears farmers hold key to ending fossil fuels dependence

FARMERS can produce renewable electricity, cut greenhouse gas emissions and create thousands of jobs, the climate change conference in Dublin Castle was told.

Irish Farmers’ Association vice president and spokesman on climate change, Séan O’Leary, said farmers possess the key to unlocking Ireland’s dependence on finite fossil fuels and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Farmers can play a pivotal role in GHG reduction through ramping up participation in renewable energy production, particularly in the areas of electricity, heat and transport.

“A recent IFA submission to government has identified an initial 6,000 strategic locations in Ireland, where farmers can establish micro-wind turbines in a non-visually intrusive way.

“These micro-wind turbines have the capacity to drive down on-farm fossil fuel use and to deliver enough electricity to meet the demands of over 32,000 households each year.

“They have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, over the expected service life of the wind turbines.

“This micro-energy strategy provides a significant opportunity for farmers to consider renewable electric farm machinery into the future.”

Mr O’Leary launched an IFA policy document at the conference on harnessing the potential of Ireland’s agriculture and forestry for renewable energy production and greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

Pointing to forestry as a key carbon sink in Ireland, he said the IFA believes the wood sector could produce 3.5 million green tonnes which, if used for heat supply, has the potential to save one million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.

Alternatively, this material could be used to create “250MWe of renewable electricity, increasing to over 400MWe by 2015”.

Mr O’Leary said the renewable transport sector also presents significant opportunities when first generation bio-fuels are combined with the associated biomass to provide essential heat and power during the drying process.

“If Ireland is to achieve the GHG emission reduction targets agreed in Brussels in December, policymakers must move from procrastination to decisive policy decisions.

“An attack on Ireland’s €6.8 billion food and farming export industry and our national herd is not the answer,” he said.

Mr O’Leary said farmers can, however, deliver substantial GHG reductions in the field of renewable energy, but a number of policy measures are required.