A new report says that agricultural biomethane can be produced at scale without disrupting other agricultural activities or land use, and without reducing the national herd.
Devenish Nutrition and KPMG Sustainable Futures drew on experience at the Dowth Research Farm in Meath as well as on existing academic research for the report, which concludes that an agriculture-led biomethane industry, developed according to international best practice, is aligned with current and emerging policy direction and can meet the EU Renewable Energy Directive II (RED II) requirements, both now and in the future.
The process of producing biomethane could reduce the direct application of raw slurry to land, and the resulting digestate by-product could displace chemical fertilisers and pesticides, decreasing ammonia and nitrous oxide emissions and improving soil quality and soil carbon sequestration.
• Download Sustainability of Biomethane Production in Ireland
Devenish Nutrition sustainable agriculture manager David Hagan said: “The challenge of addressing on-farm emissions has emerged as one of the most difficult pieces of the climate policy jigsaw.
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“Ensuring a sustainable livelihood for primary producers and supporting growth in our food industries, while also protecting our environment, is both critical and challenging. This report outlines how Ireland can deliver a sustainable, agriculture-led biomethane industry.”
Digestate produced during biomethane production could reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 37% when used as an organic fertiliser to avoid emissions associated with chemical fertiliser, and replace untreated slurry to displace significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Replacing all nitrogen use with digestate on beef farms could reduce on-farm emissions by 25%, or 3.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per farm. If 10% of farmers committed to this, there would be an estimated combined saving of 30,380 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.
The EU Green Deal highlighted biomethane as a vital tool in decarbonising European agriculture and energy systems, and the European Commission identified Ireland as having the highest potential per capita to produce the renewable gas.
Since 2019 Gas Networks Ireland, which commissioned the report, has built one biomethane injector in Co Kildare, has planning approval for another near Mitchelstown, and plans more.
The report makes the case for 125 anaerobic digestor plants around the country by 2030, fed primarily on agricultural materials and farm wastes. This won't be possible without farmers increasing the grassland yield and, for many, abandoning beef cattle rearing to supply silage to the ADs instead.
GNI head of commercial affairs Ian O’Flynn added: “Agriculturally produced biomethane can be delivered sustainably and at scale to help reduce on-farm emissions and support more sustainable food supply chains, seamlessly replace natural gas in the national gas network, decarbonise the energy system, diversify our indigenous energy supply, enhance our energy security, and generate significant employment opportunities in rural Ireland, creating additional income sources for farmers and local communities.”
Photo: Ian O'Flynn and David Hagan. (Pic Orla Murray Coalesce)
