Dr. Fiona Thorne:

I take it as a given that the supply of land is finite. Supply and demand interact to generate the price. If our supply of land is fixed and the demand for land increases as we are looking at using agricultural-based feedstocks for these anaerobic digestion plants, based on the principles of economics, land rental prices will go up. We have seen over the last couple of months what the nitrates banding has done for the prices that are being talked about. A recent study from Teagasc and the Chartered Surveyors of Ireland showed that the pressure on land rental prices will mean an increase of 14% or 15% for this year alone. Much of that is being attributed to the nitrates banding issue. If we fast forward then to an AD industry and we have increased competition for land rent, I would take an increase in land prices as a given.