Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 79: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she is taking to develop the biofuel sector; the discussions she has had with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12055/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 117: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the progress she has made in promoting the production of bioenergy crops as a viable alternative for beet growers following the announcement of the closure of the sugar plant in Mallow; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12183/06 ]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 134: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action the Government will take to ensure demand for energy crops increases by which percentage each year over the next five years. [12225/06]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 226: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the incentives directly or through the EU which are available for bio-fuel production with particular reference to the need to replace the farm income of sugar beet growers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12488/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 236: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her views on the fact that almost half of the cars in Brazil are flexi-fuel cars, which allow owners to switch fuel between ethanol and petrol; her plans to develop bio-energy crops here and assist beet farmers to continue to grow beet for use as a bio-energy crop; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2488/06]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 237: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food her reason for failing to promote bio-energy crops as an alternative for beet growers here in view the success of the bio-energy ethanol crop industry as an alternative for the sugar crop in Brazil which devotes over 50 per cent of its crop to bio-energy production; the action she intends to take to assist the development of the bio-energy crops here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12564/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 117, 134, 226, 236 and 237 together.

Interest in the growing of energy crops is dependent on the demand for biofuels, the promotion of which is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. Nonetheless the development of the biofuels sector is a matter that impinges on several policy areas including agriculture, environment, transport and taxation, and involves various Government Departments and agencies. My Department has been represented on a number of inter-Departmental groups considering the matter and there is also ongoing contact with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, for example in relation to the EU Commission's Biomass Action Plan and Strategy for Biofuels, which were discussed recently by the Council of Agriculture Ministers.

I am very conscious of the central role that agriculture can play in supplying the necessary raw materials for the production of biofuels. Oilseed rape, wheat and sugar beet can be used for the manufacture of liquid transport biofuels, while forestry by-products and other farming and food by-products, such as meat and bone meal and tallow, can be used for energy/heat generation. Tallow can also be used in biodiesel production.

Factors such as the increasing cost of oil, the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the opportunity for farmers to explore alternative land uses following CAP reform, mean that the potential of this area must be fully explored.

As a contribution to biofuels policy development, my Department in conjunction with COFORD and Teagasc has examined the potential of energy crops, wood biomass and farming and food by-products. In general, the production of energy crops for biofuels will have to be demand led and production by farmers will only be sustainable in the longer term if the economic returns are greater than those offered by traditional crop enterprises. The production of liquid biofuels from energy crops, in the absence of fiscal incentives, is not economic at current oil price levels.

The Budget announcement by the Minister for Finance of a major extension of the Mineral Oil Tax Relief Scheme to cover, when the relief is fully operational, some 163 million litres of biofuels per year should further stimulate the production of crops for the manufacture of liquid biofuels.

This initiative will benefit the environment in terms of a reduction in CO2 emissions, it will enhance security of supply of fuels, and it will create jobs and outlets for agricultural production. The grant aid scheme of up to €27m announced recently by the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for domestic renewable heat technologies will have similar benefits and will help drive demand for wood biomass.

Within my own area of responsibility, a range of developments are already under way or in the pipeline that will encourage the production and use of biofuels. These include grants to promote and develop sustainable forestry, including alternative timber use to reduce dependence on fossil fuels; promoting the use of wood biomass, for example by the installation of a wood heating system at my Department's offices at Johnstown Castle; funding of forest-to-energy pilot projects; willow planting promotion; supporting biofuels research under the research stimulus programme; grant aiding the application of new technologies such as anaerobic/aerobic digestion and fluidized bed combustion, with a renewable energy dimension and the use of animal by-products for incineration and co-incineration in place of fossil fuels.

In Ireland, support to farmers for growing crops may only be provided in accordance with EU regulations. Under the EU Energy Crops Scheme administered by my Department, aid of €45 per hectare per annum is available for areas sown under energy crops intended for biofuel production. I am seeking to have this scheme made more attractive for producers in the context of discussions on the EU Biofuels Strategy.

In relation to Brazil, the switch from petrol to bioethanol is largely attributable to the fact that bioethanol can be produced far more cheaply from sugar cane, which is a perennial crop, than from sugar beet.