“There is an alignment between anaerobic digestors and sustainable food production,” says PJ McCarthy. “However, without the farmer at the heart of the equation, this won’t happen at scale.”

McCarthy is the CEO of Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI). If that rings a bell, it might be because it has been working closely with co-ops with the aim of creating a network of anaerobic digestor (AD) plants across Ireland.

RGFI envisages a network of over 200 AD plants on and around Irish farms, taking in slurry and crops, and producing gas and biofertiliser among other products. The first obvious questions for him is what would a typical AD plant on an Irish farm look like?

“A 20 gigawatt hour (GWh) plant is your optimal size. It would require about 37,000t of feedstock. About 60% of that would be crops and 40% would be animal slurry. About 400ha to 500ha of land would be required to grow that crop.”

Would such a plant affect existing farming enterprises in the area?

“A 20GWh AD plant would only require a maximum of 4% of the feedstock from the land in a 10km radius around it. We’ve looked at this in great detail and are very confident that there would be plenty of animal slurry available within that 10km range as well.

“We’re not undermining the sustainability of the food we produce in any way, we’re actually enhancing it. Biodigestate, which is natural biofertiliser for grass and crops, can replace artificial fertiliser in crop production. The crops grown can feed both livestock and the network of AD plants around the country. We’re not talking about a reduction in livestock numbers. In fact, taking slurry into an AD plant may help intensive farmers to cope with tightening nitrates rules. There’s a lot of land underutilised, and two-thirds of farmers are only breaking even or losing money net of payments”.

Cost

The cost of such a plant must surely be daunting?

“To build a 20GWh AD plant would cost about €9m to €10m currently. To ensure that the biomethane is competitively produced, about 50% of capital funding is needed from Government. We understand that it is essential that the remaining funding is within reach if the model we foresee of farmer and co-operative ownership of AD plants is to be realised. ISIF, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, will provide that lending.

“We have also been in negotiations with a private fund who will put €200m into a 15-year fund. That timescale gives end-to-end funding for the lifetime of the project, providing certainty and confidence for investors,” he says.

What is on the ground in terms of existing AD plants?

“There are only a handful of biomethane plants around the country, but they are doing well. There is still opportunity for non-agricultural plants that would handle commercial waste, as we are still exporting waste. However, we would see about 20 agricultural plants being developed for every larger plant handling commercial waste.”

McCarthy and RGFI believe that biomethane plants can help a number of sustainability goals, not least around climate change.

“We need to be carbon zero by 2050. The Ukraine crisis has concentrated people’s minds around energy security, energy supply, storage and pricing.”

Potential positive

Ireland is one of the least developed countries in terms of biomethane, but he sees this as a potential positive.

“We can learn from the mistakes made in other countries. We have the highest potential per capita for biogas in all of Europe, because we have 92% of our landmass in pastureland, we and the European Commission have recognised this.”

In terms of the gas, he says markets exist and are waiting for product.

“There are four separate end-users – the domestic market, industry thermal demand, transport, power generation. Now a fifth use, export, is becoming an option.

“There are also other opportunities that we need to pursue through innovation and research. Bioactives, biostimulants, and biogenic carbon dioxide all have potential but they won’t come on stream until we have the investment, the scale and a level of maturity within AD biomethane. It is the central enabler for all that potential.

“Our very clear economic assessment was stress-tested within the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. They agreed with us on cost-base, on our assessment of optimal scale, but weren’t sure with our level of ambition.”

Project Clover

Where is Project Clover, the collaboration between Danone, Wyeth Nutrition, Glanbia Ireland, Dairygold, Carbery, Lakeland Dairies, Tipperary Co-op, and RGFI announced last year?

“Project Clover has completed it’s feasibility. The next phase is implementation, but for that to progress, we require the Government to announce the renewable heat obligation (RHO) and have an implementation date for it.

“That will be the catalyst. We have made significnat progress.

“The opportunity is there for the agri-food sector and farmers to be in control of their own destiny and to create a diverse income stream. The collaboration will address issues around energy security for all parties. Instead of being price takers, they can be in control.”

What is your essential message to farmers?

“Our structure from the very outset for this was to deliver on the environmental requirements, we believe there is the chance to control that opportunity. Rural Ireland can step up and have control of this.

“The co-op structure has withstood the test of time. Farming has evolved and adapted, and will and must continue to do so. We are building trust that this can work, but it needs to happen very soon.”