Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

If it is a choice between importing fracked gas from the United States, where there is a real problem, or importing offshore wind, I know which I would be betting on if I was on the board of Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, or was the responsible Minister.

On the question of costs, the other main component of Gas Networks Ireland, GNI, development is the development of biomethane from Irish agriculture. From waste, it would be 3% of our needs. We are all agreed on doing that as quickly as we can. I start to run into problems with GNI's other plans. I refer to the use of grass or other gasification technologies. I support the power to gas proposition but I mention the other two. I read the Sustainable Energy Authority of Energy Ireland's assessment of costs and benefits of biogas and methane in Ireland. In looking at its cost assessments of some of those other feedstocks, one is looking at a cost of €750 per tonne in carbon abatement, as per its projections. This seems incredibly expensive for either the gasification or the grass-based systems.