Biofuel option must be considered, says expert

THE country’s green fields are not about to become oil fields overnight, a Teagasc expert warned at a conference in Carlow yesterday.

Dr Bernard Rice said the situation was beginning to change, however, and the proposed expansion of excise relief on liquid biofuels in the Budget removes a major barrier to the development of the industry.

He told the Teagasc national tillage conference that the era of cheap and abundant oil supplies is over, and it is important to find alternatives over the next 10 years.