A joint study led by UCC and Ernst and Young has examined the viability of converting common grass into heating gas, and has concluded that this alternative energy arrangement could provide enough heat for 300,000 Irish homes per year.
The new report, which was carried out on behalf of Bord Gais, has discovered that at least 7.5pc of Ireland’s natural gas could be supplied using grass and waste.
The Future of Renewable Gas in Ireland’, the official name of the study, says that the biomethane industry could make a significant contribution to the ‘green tech’ sector in Ireland.
Dr Jerry Murphy, Principle Investigator in Bioenergy and Biofuels, Environmental Research Institute, UCC, explained to Dublin’s The Herald newspaper how: “Biogas is produced when feedstocks, such as organic wastes, and energy crops, such as grass silage, are converted using anaerobic digestion technology.”
The ‘raw’ biogas can then be cleaned and upgraded to biomethane — renewable gas — and injected into national gas grid,” he said.
Bord Gais Chief Executive, John Mullins said it would help reduce dependence on energy imports, provide jobs in the construction and operation of biomethane plants, and create new business opportunities among the farming community.
The technology, or close equivalents, is already in use in several other European countries: Denmark, Sweden, and Germany have already made attempts at turning waste into gas, though this would be a first for Ireland.
