Ethanol production an outlet for beet growers
As matters stand, she said Irish Sugar Ltd has arrangements in place to process the full Irish sugar quota at its Mallow plant, which has been upgraded for that purpose.
“The question of establishing a bioethanol plant based on sugar beet would be a matter for commercial decision,” she told Cork East Fine Gael TD David Stanton in a written reply. Minister Coughlan said it will be a matter for beet growers and Irish Sugar to make decisions about sugar beet growing in Ireland in light of the reformed sugar regime, which will come into effect from July 1, 2006, and provides a range of options.
In future, under the decoupled system of support payments, farmers will only grow crops which provide an economic return.
She said the announcement in the budget of the excise duty relief scheme to cover, when the relief is fully operational, some 163 million litres of biofuels per year should stimulate the production of crops for the manufacture of liquid biofuels.
To encourage the growing of sugar beet as an energy crop, the EU Commission intends, during 2006, to amend the relevant regulations to allow it to qualify for set-aside payments, when cultivated as a non-food crop, and also to be made eligible for the energy crop aid of €45 per hectare.
The sugar reform agreement also permits the partial dismantling of a sugar factory and the continued use of the production site for the production of non-food products such as bioethanol. In these circumstances, the final agreement provided that 75% of the restructuring aid be payable.
Ms Coughlan said she is anxious to encourage further research to assist the development of the biofuels industry. Teagasc has already done some valuable work in this area.
Cork East Labour TD Joe Sherlock told the Dáil during an adjournment debate that biofuel production must be considered as an option for Mallow beet factory in the event of sugar processing ending in Ireland as a result of the EU reforms.
He said there is a stronger case than ever for exploring the biofuel option against the background of rapidly rising oil prices and Ireland’s obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.
