Mr. Tim Cullinan:

I thank the committee for the invitation to address it.

Climate change is arguably the greatest challenge facing the world today, with farmers very much on the front line. Irish farmers understand that they have a unique role to play in meeting the climate change challenge and are committed to playing their part in reducing greenhouse gas, GHG, emissions. However, it must be done in a fair and balanced way.

The Government commitment to reduce Ireland’s GHG emissions by 51% by 2030 has implications for all parts of the Irish economy. Achieving the reduction target set proposed for agriculture, of between 22% to 30% by 2030, will be extremely challenging for the sector. Setting an emissions reduction target of higher than 22% would have the potential to devastate the sector. Achieving a 22% emission reduction will be extremely challenging, but is achievable for the sector based on potential mitigation measures outlined in the Climate Action Plan 2021. Such a target would recognise the technical challenges associated with monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions reductions in agriculture, as well as the timeframe required for adoption of new technologies. It would also recognise the sector's unique ability to support other sectors of the economy to offset emissions through on-farm renewables, such as anaerobic digestion, AD. The development of a sustainable indigenous AD biomethane industry offers significant potential to support the transition to a low carbon energy system, as well as supporting the achievement of agriculture’s climate targets.

AD is a controlled process where biomass is used to produce renewable energy in the form of biogas and organic fertiliser. Agricultural biomass feedstocks for AD include slurries, silage, grass and food processing wastes. AD technology can be applied at a range of scales, depending on the amount of biomass available. Systems can range from small farm-based digesters to large centralised anaerobic digesters, CAD, supplied with feedstocks from several sources. The biogas produced can be used to generate heat, electricity or both. The energy produced can be used on the farm, while excess electricity or heat can be exported to provide additional revenue, increasing the sustainability of the farm business and reducing on-farm emissions. In addition, the biogas can be upgraded to biomethane, which can be injected into the natural gas network or compressed into containers for use as a fuel in other applications, such as road transport. Biogas is the only fully dispatchable renewable energy that can assist in addressing our electricity, heat and transport renewable energy targets. While the digestate that remains is rich in nutrients and can, after further processing, be used as an organic fertiliser. This reduces the requirement for inorganic fertilisers and the associated emissions from its production. Therefore, AD offers a significant step towards a more sustainable farming system. It can contribute towards the reduction of emissions, particularly those in livestock, thus helping to meet emission targets; the production of organic fertiliser, reducing the need for chemical fertilisers and reducing the wider environmental impacts of producing chemical fertilisers; and the production of renewable electricity and heat for on-farm use, potentially creating an additional source of income from sales of heat, electricity or biomethane.

Ireland’s adoption of renewable technologies at farm level is well below the European average. In 2018, Ireland ranked 23rd out the EU-27 countries for generation of renewable energy from agriculture, producing just 2.6% compared with the EU-27 average of 12.1%. Farmers want to be central players in Ireland’s energy transition. They recognise the opportunities offered by renewable energy to produce energy for their own use but also to diversify their farm income by selling excess energy to the grid, thereby enhancing the sustainability of their farm business. AD is a natural fit for Ireland considering our large livestock industry and the availability of manures. Given the mounting pressure to decarbonise the agriculture sector, coupled with the continuing pressure to meet our renewable transport and heat targets, AD provides a real solution.

As stated previously, the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 sets a legally binding target of a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030, relative to a baseline of 2018, and net-zero emissions no later than 2050. One of the proposed measures in the climate action plan to achieve the proposed emissions reduction for agriculture is that agricultural feedstocks will contribute to the production of 1.6 TW hours per annum of indigenous sustainably produced biomethane for injection into the gas grid by 2030. In addition to reducing emissions in agriculture, agricultural-led AD can contribute and support other sectors, including the electricity sector, to transition to low-carbon energy sources to meet the its emissions reduction targets. Among the most important measures for the electricity sector to meet its target is to increase the proportion of renewable electricity to up to 80% by 2030. While AD plants have been rolled out across Europe at significant scale over recent decades, its deployment in Ireland has been very limited to date, with only a handful of commercial scale AD plants developed. Around 19,000 AD plants are in operation around Europe, producing 167 TW hours of biogas. There are many challenges to developing a sustainable indigenous AD sector. Targeted supports will be needed to support rural areas and farming communities in building AD plants for biogas production if the climate targets are to be achieved.

The ambition for scaling up AD and biomethane production in Europe has further increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has massively disrupted the world’s energy system and has led to soaring energy costs. In May 2022, the European Commission published the REPowerEU Plan to rapidly reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels by fast forwarding the clean transition to achieve a more resilient energy system.