Grass and household waste key to gas demand

UP to 300,000 Irish homes could be heated by the conversion of grass and household waste into natural gas, Bord Gáis has announced.

According to a report issued yesterday, up to 7.5% of Ireland’s natural gas demand could be met by this renewable gas. Such a project would aid the country’s security of energy supply, ongoing waste management concerns and help meet targets for renewable energy.

This is not a new technology, with farmers in Denmark and Germany running co-ops that have financed, built and run such renewable gas facilities. In Stockholm, the city treats municipal waste to create natural gas for use as a transport fuel.

Biogas is produced when feedstocks, such as organic wastes, and energy crops, such as grass silage, are converted into biogas using anaerobic digestion technology. The “raw” biogas can then be cleaned and upgraded to biomethane — renewable gas — and injected into the national gas grid.

Bord Gáis CEO John Mullins said the study, completed in association with UCC and Ernst and Young, found that biomethane represents a significant and under-utilised source of renewable energy in Ireland.

“Undoubtedly, there are obstacles to making renewable gas a viable energy source in Ireland. However, we believe that, if the necessary parties work together, these barriers can be overcome in a relatively short timeframe,” he said.

Fine Gael agriculture spokesman, Andrew Doyle, backed the Bord Gáis plans suggesting that they be funded from revenue neutral green taxes such as carbon taxes.

“There are only four on-farm anaerobic digestion plants here compared to approximately 4,000 in Germany, producing almost 900MW of electricity capacity. The slurry gas derived from our pig and poultry sectors is rich in methane and phosphorus and is a natural basis for expanding this industry in Ireland. Anaerobic digestion also has the potential to generate and serves the dual benefit of mitigating the issue of phosphorous provision which forms part of the current review of nitrates regulations.”

Meanwhile, a green energy entrepreneur has said that Ireland has more than three times its total energy requirements available from renewable energy sources on its doorstep.

Speaking at the launch of his book, Green and Gold — Ireland a World Energy Leader, CEO of Alternative Energy Resources John Travers said that 20% of Irish energy needs can be met by renewable energy by 2020. He is arguing that a further 60% can be achieved by 2050. Such is our abundance of wind, wave, solar and biomass that he believes 20% of Irish GDP could be derived from clean energy exports.

“Clean energy can help rescue Ireland from its current economic and energy challenges. Ireland is endowed with winds that are among the strongest in the world and the waves that crash against our western seaboard are some of the most powerful on the planet. Harnessing these and other clean energy sources such as solar and biomass offers Ireland a golden opportunity to overcome the energy challenge it faces.”