Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In deference to the Minister I will be brief because we had a good debate in the Seanad on this subject. We have to work with what we have - we have wind - but we must use it in the best way possible. New methods are coming on stream every day. It is now possible to put a wind facility 1,000 ft. above the earth. This is being deployed in Alaska. It tethered by a string rather than a pole and the wind turbine is contained inside a helium balloon.

That is there but it will not be for Ireland because it is for more remote districts. We must be realistic in saying what we can do.

Everybody is talking about biomass. The Drax plant in Yorkshire converted from burning coal to sustainable biomass. The EU said wood is carbon neutral but there is a debate now as to whether it is. Only one station at the Drax plant has been converted and it is shipping shiploads of wood pellets from North Carolina, which is depleting forests there as this is not thinnings or anything else. The station burns a shipload of wood pellets, shipped in the largest cargo ship on earth, in 16 hours. It takes 100 years to grow a tree which sequesters more CO2 from the environment than anything else. Biomass is not all it is said to be. When looking at biomass, we must ensure we know what we are talking about. When we take into account the transportation of biomass fuel 3,800 miles from North Carolina to Yorkshire, carbon neutrality goes out the window. All of this must be taken into account.

We have had a very good debate. There are many policy papers available but I look forward to the Green Paper on which this committee will have a good debate.