Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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90. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to create a viable biogas industry here that would utilise farm and animal waste as the main source of raw material for its production; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7018/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises that indigenous renewable energy plays a vital role in our domestic fuel mix and will become even more important in the context of reducing our reliance on imported fuels and in meeting our challenging renewable energy targets. My Department is committed to working closely with the Department for Communications, Climate Action and Environment which is the lead Department in this area.

In that context, my Department recognises that there is an opportunity to encourage the utilisation of agricultural waste as an alternative source of energy.

While it is possible to produce and utilise methane through AD of stored manure and academic and industry research suggests that there is the potential for a significant role in the heat and transport sectors for biogas produced by anaerobic digestion, analysis to date would suggest that costs are a significant factor.

Given renewed interest in this technology and an interest from industry in mobilising biomethane, my Department is collaborating closely with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment to consider the potential for anaerobic digestion to contribute to Ireland’s significant renewable energy and GHG targets, and promotes the development of Ireland’s bioeconomy.

My Department, in collaboration with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) and the Environmental Protection Agency, has sought to encourage the use of animal by-products (ABPs) as “valuable by-products not waste”. The sustainable use of ABPs can result in wider environmental and economic benefits.

The agriculture and forest sector has a critical role to play in contributing to our national climate change ambitions, and bioenergy represents a key component of that contribution.