‘Farmers can benefit from wood energy sector by pooling resources’
To promote this business opportunity, Teagasc is supporting several timber producer groups which are already operating nationwide. At the conference in the Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters, delegates viewed the use of locally-supplied wood chip in the biomass boiler which heats Johnstown Castle.
Teagasc director Professor Gerry Boyle said: “We believe that the rapid expansion of the wood energy sector in Ireland will be beneficial to more than 15,000 farmers who developed a farm forest enterprise. Bioenergy 2011 showcases the potential of wood energy as an alternative and important outlet for thinnings.”
The Bioenergy 2011 event was organised by Teagasc, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and COFORD.
Forestry consultant Henry Phillips highlighted the increase in demand for timber, partly due to EU renewable targets, against the shortfall in timber supply that is likely to arise by 2020. The importance of mobilising the private sector to thin forests was a strong theme among the speakers.
