Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I recently introduced a Bill in the Dáil around the whole area of anaerobic digestion. Anaerobic digestion is the really cool process where organic material is turned into biogas, which can then be used in energy or electricity production. When we think of anaerobic digestion we think of the bigger-scale anaerobic digesters, ADs, taking inputs from the agri-sector and from industry but less well known are the small, miniature anaerobic digesters. There is an excellent company based in west Cork called MyGug. The website is mygug.eu. They have small anaerobic digesters that can be used in the household. It is an excellent premise whereby food waste such as peelings from vegetables or even cooked food that has not been eaten can go into the AD and produce a gas, which can then be used to do cooking. It is the perfect example of the circular economy. It can also be used in businesses. One can imagine hotels, cafes and restaurants using this very effectively, saving money, saving emissions and reducing emissions, as well as dealing with the food waste issue. The problem is that while people can get grants from the Department of enterprise for energy efficiency grants, these small ADs are not covered. Very simply I am asking if a small amendment could be made to the efficiency grant scheme whereby these small and miniature anaerobic digesters can be available under grant aid.

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