Renewable gas production should ramp up and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the fossil fuels it replaces should benefit farmers, Teagasc director Gerry Boyle told the IFA north Tipperary AGM on Tuesday.
“It’s a disgrace that there has been no significant investment in anaerobic digestion in the Republic,” Boyle said. “We should be supporting this and the credits should go to the agriculture sector, not the energy sector.”
This would mirror afforestation policy. Boyle confirmed that up to October 2014, the positive carbon credits associated with forestry weren’t credited to agriculture, but they now are. Yet he predicted another drop this year in forestry plantings, which have already fallen from 8,000ha to 4,500ha annually in recent years. Boyle believes growing more forestry could have a major impact in mitigating climate change and significant positive benefits on perception and public relations.
In addition, a combination of fertiliser conversion to stabilised urea, higher EBI sires for increased dairy efficiency and changes in the way we spread and manage slurry will be required if dairy cow numbers continue to increase. “I believe if we work with purpose we can grow and stay within the limits,” Boyle said. Teagasc scenarios predict that between 6.88m and 7.86m cattle by 2030 would push Ireland outside climate limits under current conditions, he added.
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Renewable gas production should ramp up and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the fossil fuels it replaces should benefit farmers, Teagasc director Gerry Boyle told the IFA north Tipperary AGM on Tuesday.
“It’s a disgrace that there has been no significant investment in anaerobic digestion in the Republic,” Boyle said. “We should be supporting this and the credits should go to the agriculture sector, not the energy sector.”
This would mirror afforestation policy. Boyle confirmed that up to October 2014, the positive carbon credits associated with forestry weren’t credited to agriculture, but they now are. Yet he predicted another drop this year in forestry plantings, which have already fallen from 8,000ha to 4,500ha annually in recent years. Boyle believes growing more forestry could have a major impact in mitigating climate change and significant positive benefits on perception and public relations.
In addition, a combination of fertiliser conversion to stabilised urea, higher EBI sires for increased dairy efficiency and changes in the way we spread and manage slurry will be required if dairy cow numbers continue to increase. “I believe if we work with purpose we can grow and stay within the limits,” Boyle said. Teagasc scenarios predict that between 6.88m and 7.86m cattle by 2030 would push Ireland outside climate limits under current conditions, he added.
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