Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The first biomethane injection point is coming online, generating electricity and producing biomethane for the grid. It is operational near Athy. I went to look at a facility a couple of years ago that was very impressive. However, there are 8,000 of these in Germany and 600 in Britain, so we are only getting going at this. We need to complement intermittent sources of electricity. We know wind, wave and solar power is all part of the solution but on the coldest nights there is no sun and there may be no wind, so we need to bring in sources that can provide a base loading of power.

There is also the potential for a bio-fertiliser product from this. We had to go to the European Commission again this year seeking an extension of the derogation regarding the spreading of pig slurry. There is the potential to use this instead to make a bio-fertiliser that would be far more environmentally friendly. There is large-scale potential here. We in Sinn Féin have done much research into this and this has the potential to create up to 10% of our electricity supply. That is very realistic based on what is happening other countries. Will the Minister respond to that in particular?

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