WBA responds to new report on renewables in Ireland

World Biogas Association (WBA) President David Newman has responded to the publication of a new report by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland by calling for more support for anaerobic digestion (AD) to reduce emissions.

In an article in Bioenergy Insight, Mr Newman said:

Few countries in the EU are on track to meet their 2020 renewable energy goals. The UK, for example, has a commitment to a 15% renewable energy share that it is struggling to meet, while the Netherlands had achieved less than half its 2020 target by 2017, some 7% against its 15% ambition. It is therefore no surprise that this new report shows that Ireland is also not on track to meet its 2020 renewable energy goals across a range of sectors.

We know, however, that wide-scale implementation of anaerobic digestion (AD) technologies is a solution that can help to reduce emissions across the Irish economy through converting organic wastes and crops into biogas, which can be used to produce renewable electricity or upgraded to biomethane to be injected directly into the gas grid and used as a low-carbon fuel for heavy transport.

This SEAI report sets out how Ireland is already making use of biogas to reduce emissions across electricity, heat, and transport, but there’s huge scope for this innovative industry to play an even larger role in decarbonising the Irish economy through capturing methane from agriculture, sewage, and inedible food waste.

We estimate that with the right policies and investment, AD has the potential to bring about an enormous 15% reduction in global GHG emissions. The Irish Government needs to think about how it can best facilitate the rollout of AD facilities to ensure that all available waste feedstocks are recycled and that biogas makes its maximum possible contribution to tackling climate change in Ireland.

You can read the full article here.