We have all been shocked, I imagine, having received bills of over €1.40/l for our last fill of green diesel, but we don’t seem to have even considered reacting to dramatically changed conditions. Just think of the basic sums. A tonne of oilseed rape gives at least 400 litres of biodiesel.

It’s not as efficient litre for litre as conventional diesel – estimates vary from 70% - 90%. So that gives us the equivalent in normal diesel terms of about 300 litres of fully usable fuel per tonne of oilseed rape.

Taking a yield of two tonnes of oilseed rape per acre and we are looking at producing about 600 litres of diesel equivalent per acre, worth approximately €824/acre (taking green diesel at €1.40/l). In addition, there would also be at least a tonne of meal from a two tonne oilseed rape crop so, at give or take a minimum of €300/t of high protein meal, we are looking at a gross return of well over €1,100/acre.

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At the moment, we are selling practically all of our oilseed rape production out of the country for processing.

In present circumstances, no one knows how long the war in the Middle East will last for, but it seems that some conventional facilities in those countries will be out of commission for some time. Ireland has among the highest yields of oilseed rape in Europe. It seems shortsighted not to have at least a standby capacity to produce some of our own domestic needs.

At present prices, very little subsidy would be required and the strategic value of having the capacity to meet some of our own agri diesel needs should be considered.

As Stephen Robb covered in a recent article in the Irish Farmers Journal, the British government has given a capital injection of £100 million to enable a moth-balled ethanol producing plant using UK wheat to reopen.

We would find it difficult to compete in the ethanol from wheat space given the attractiveness of maize as a better source of starch for conversion to ethanol but at present prices, Irish feed wheat yielding 4t/acre would produce over 1,500 litres of ethanol. Rather than looking for a subsidy, all that would be required would be some form of tax remission policy.

How much weight should we attach to national or European capacity to produce some of our own fuel needs? Both the US and Brazil have had long-standing, vibrant biofuel policies and the Irish Turley family has a state-of-the-art maize to ethanol plant in Hungary.

The European approach to biofuels has always been half-hearted at best: the Irish one non-existent – that no longer looks to be sensible.