Dr. John Curtis:

If we were trying to reduce emissions from households and if households are using zero net emissions fuels, as in biogas, then yes. There is always a benefit then, if they improve the efficiency of the house, from them using less of that biogas and it could go further. Someone from the Department might be able to say, but I think SEAI has done some assessments of the potential feedstocks that are available to produce biogas. It could be 15% or 25%. It is not an entirety. However, there is much going on, particularly in UCC, looking at opportunities to produce biogas, whether from algae or the sea, or on-source woody biomass. A big opportunity - we spoke briefly about agriculture - is where we may produce low-carbon intensity beef and milk but over half the beef sector is unprofitable. We may be producing low-intensity beef but farmers are not making money out of it. However, the grass they produce to help grow cattle could potentially be a feedstock also to produce biogas.