Green, green grass of home could be key to renewable energy

THE secret to Ireland’s success in switching to renewable energy is as Green as you can get — and it’s right under our feet.

That’s according to researchers who have identified common or garden grass as the way forward in weening us off planet-destroying fossil fuels in favour of biofuels.

“Ireland has 91% of land under grass and this grassland is at present under-utilised,” explained Dr Jerry Murphy of the Environmental Research Institute at University College Cork.

“These grasslands may now be the source of clean indigenous biofuel and could create thousands of jobs.

“This is the optimum biofuel for Ireland. We are the best grass growers in the world and converting that product into energy could create thousands of jobs at home and go a long way to reducing our dependency on fossil fuels.”

Speaking in advance of an environmental conference today at UCC, Dr Murphy said a Government initiative was needed urgently to promote grass production for fuel by offering farmers a commercial rate for their product.

“Grass biomethane has been shown to be a very sustainable renewable energy source. Grass is a low energy input crop as it is a perennial and the anaerobic digestion process is a simple low energy input technology. The industry has to be rural based, is generally of relatively small scale and as such has great benefits for rural development.

“In Germany and Austria, for instance, farmers get in the region of 20 cent per kilowatt hour for grass fuel production. We only offer a little more than half that and, so we have only four digesters nationally to turn that grass into fuel. In Germany there are 4,700 digesters and they are planning to increase that number by 1,000 every year.”

Dr Murphy said he visited a farm in Austria recently where the farmer had a gas-filling station for locals.

“He grows the grass, converts into fuel with a digester, which is really nothing more than a slurry tank with a top. Motorists come along, swipe their credit cards and fill up their gas-powered cars. It couldn’t be simpler,” he said.

The conference is being organised to highlight the benefits of grass as a source of biomethane and to promote the inclusion of that fuel on the national gas grid.

“Biomethane injection to the gas grid offers a very efficient distribution system for a renewable energy source. It also allows the biomethane to be used in lieu of natural gas for heating and transport. It is a most effective means of renewable heat supply in congested cities such as London and Dublin. About 620,000 houses and businesses are connected to the gas grid in the Republic of Ireland.”