Bio process would divert waste and see Ireland meet green energy goal

ANAEROBIC digestion technology could help Ireland divert slurry and organic waste from landfill sites, create rural jobs and help fulfil Ireland’s ‘green’ electricity obligations, according to Teagasc.

Delegates at yesterday’s Anaerobic Digestion Europe 2011 conference in Dublin heard of Teagasc’s plans to build a small-scale plant at its Grange Research Centre, to show farmers, the Government and the banks how slurry and other ‘brown bin’ waste can be converted into biogas in an anaerobic digestion plant.

Germany has about 6,000 full-scale plants. Sweden, Denmark and the Czech Republic have all invested hugely in farm-scale plants. They are now exporting the biofuel products, electricity and their technology.