Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I am aware of the potential to use miscanthus to generate heat and power in the bioenergy sector. The Department has been grant aiding farmers to plant miscanthus since 2007 under the bioenergy scheme. The scheme was launched on a pilot basis to provide farmers with an establishment grant to cover 50% of the costs of establishment up to a maximum payment of €1,450 per hectare. Eligible costs include those associated with ground preparation, fencing, vegetation control, the purchase of planting stock and planting. Up to 2,500 hectares of miscanthus were grant aided to the end of 2009.

As with any emerging sector, markets for miscanthus cannot be developed in isolation and require close collaboration between all partners in the supply chain from producer to processor. The initial target market should be end users with a high continuous heat demand. These markets should be local and of sufficient size and dependability to reduce transport costs. I understand that new markets are being developed in the fire log, pellet and briquette sectors to meet the growing demand for biomass in domestic and commercial stoves, open fires and boilers. The use of miscanthus as a co-fuel with peat is also being developed with trials ongoing at the peat-burning power stations. Eventually it will be possible to convert crops like miscanthus into liquid biofuel through the use of emerging second-generation technologies. It will be a number of years, however, before these technologies reach commercial viability.

Ireland's climatic and soil conditions are very suitable for growing miscanthus and the sector has the potential to offer a new rural activity for farmers. Miscanthus can also deliver positive outcomes in terms of reduced CO2 emissions and can contribute an increased supply of biomass to meet Government targets on bioenergy.

My Department is currently reviewing the operation of the pilot bioenergy scheme to assess the need for a new scheme from 2010 onwards and an announcement will be made shortly.

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