Crops ‘can help us meet energy needs’
Teagasc researcher Bernard Rice said that at the extreme, the total farmed area could produce Ireland's total national energy requirement.
A 10% substitution could be achieved with slight decreases in arable and livestock enterprises, he said.
Mr Rice said the most likely energy products would be rape-seed oil as a diesel substitute, ethanol from beet as a petrol substitute and a range of crops for combustion to produce heat and electricity.
Industries such as these are already established in other EU countries but there have been few incentives to stimulate renewable energy production here. Mr Rice said two changes are needed immediately to stimulate such action a reduction or remission of road excise on biofuels and an increased price for electricity from biomass.
Since the size of the biomass resource is limited and no exchequer costs are incurred until renewable energy is produced, these measures could be introduced at very little cost or risk to the economy.
Mr Rice said every energy crisis of the past 30 years led to a surge of interest in fuel crops, which waned as soon as queues disappeared from the filling stations.
But in view of the problems facing farming and the economy, a more serious look at the potential of these crops is warranted, he said.
The conference was told Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions far exceed our Kyoto limits with the agriculture sector the biggest offender.
Mr Rice said growing fuel crops to displace fossil fuel would reduce CO2 emissions without cuts in farm output.
Given the market difficulties and falling profit margins facing the conventional farm enterprises, some diversification into other markets is worth exploring, he said.
