Minister for Communications and Climate Action Richard Bruton has played down the idea of government supports for a farmer-led biomethane industry.

Asked by the Irish Farmers Journal if the Government was prepared to subsidise the establishment of a biogas industry in this country, Minister Bruton downplayed the prospect despite Ireland being way off meeting its 2020 renewable energy targets.

“As of today, biomethane wouldn’t be competitive and it would impose a very high cost for the carbon benefit it would achieve,” said Minister Bruton.

Blow

The comments will come as a blow to farmers and companies operating in the renewable biogas sector.

Just last week, Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI) unveiled an ambitious plan that will need more than 300 anaerobic digester (AD) plants to be built on Irish farms by 2030.

These AD plants would produce biomethane, which is a renewable gas produced from grass and cattle slurry and would be injected into the national gas grid.

If built, these plants would require 4.8m tonnes of cattle slurry and 5.8m tonnes of grass silage annually in order to produce 6.8TWh of energy, which equates to about 12% of Ireland’s total natural gas demand. A capital investment of almost €2bn would be required between now and 2030 to develop 300 AD plants.

Investment

Establishing such an industry will require significant government support of about €17m to €25m per annum in the first few years.

However, as the number of AD plants increases this government support would need to rise to about €300m per annum and would be generated in the form of capital grants, ringfenced carbon taxes and a public service obligation (PSO) levy of up to €5.70 per consumer by 2028.

Without government support, it’s very difficult to see how the industry could get off the ground.

Target

Ireland has been set a target by the EU to produce 16% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. However, the country is firmly on track to miss that target, with just 11% of energy produced from renewable sources last year.

Representatives for the renewable biogas industry argue that establishing a network of AD plants on Irish farms would help Ireland meet its renewable energy targets as well as lower carbon emissions.