Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Even based on the current projections, by 2030 the demand for oil-fired central heating will be about 4,000 GW hours. Some 1,500 GW hours could be provided through the available HVO. That is based on conservative figures. However, the big problem here is that to date there has been an absence of any clear demand for energy crops that would attract farmers to move away from cattle, dairy mainly, but also beef production. Yet we have a shortage of feed crops for HVO production throughout Europe, a failure to meet our increased tillage acreage targets and a need to reduce the national herd to meet the Government's own 2030 climate targets. I previously did an assessment of converting our three peat-fired power plants to 100% biomass. That would displace 600,000 tonnes of carbon each year from beef production and generate €465 per ha for farmers with a price of carbon at €100 per tonne.

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