Webinar No 8: Policies and Actions required to mobilise a large scale Irish Biogas Industry

This webinar explored the opportunities and benefits of a mainstream Irish Biogas Industry and discussed the various policies and actions required to mobilise the industry. In 2019, The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) and The Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland (Cré) launched their joint policy document calling for a biogas support scheme. This policy document articulated a vision from the industry and outlined the key principles which were needed to be followed for the growth and development of a successful Irish biogas industry. On this webinar we discussed the policies and actions that are required to ensure this industry develops in Ireland which is mainstream in many other European countries.

View the live Webinar presentation here and the Presentation slides here

Speakers

Seán Finan
IrBEA CEO

Seán Finan is the Chief Executive Officer with IrBEA, he is a Chartered Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) Degree from National University of Ireland, Galway. Prior to joining IrBEA, he has over 12 years engineering and management experience with John Sisk & Son (Holding) Ltd and took a two-year secondment from Sisk (2015 – 2017) to complete the full-time elected role as 35th National President of Macra na Feirme – the young farmers’ representative organisation. Seán’s key role is to lead IrBEA and its members to develop the Bioenergy sector in Ireland. He is also directly involved in IrBEA projects and takes a lead role in the EIP Small Biogas Demonstration Project and the Interreg NWE REDIRECT Project.

Noel Gavigan
Technical Executive, IrBEA
Noel Gavigan is the Executive Officer for IrBEA since 2010, his main role is project delivery and technical backup for members. Noel has worked on some of IrBEA’s main projects including the Biomass Trade Centres, Biogas3, EIP Small Biogas Demonstration Project and Wood Fuel Quality Assurance Certification Scheme.

Percy Foster
CEO of Cré (Composting & Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland)
Established in 2001, Cré is the Composting and Anaerobic Digestion Association of Ireland. They are a non-profit association dedicated to growing the biological treatment sector. Cré supports the production of high-quality outputs, assists the delivery of Government waste diversion and bioenergy targets, and promotes the creation of sustainable indigenous jobs. Cré actively participates in policy working groups and acts as a forum to interested parties to discuss all aspects of composting and anaerobic digestion in Ireland.

Webinar No 7: The Role of Edenderry Power in the Irish biomass Supply Chain

Ireland currently derives just 4% of its energy from bioenergy, this needs to rise to 15% by 2030 with further deployment beyond to meet Paris Agreement targets.  By 2024 Edenderry Power intends to run solely on 100% sustainable biomass.  Sustainable biomass consumption at Edenderry will ensure that the Midlands will continue its long history of energy supply, moving to low carbon sources.   The associated socio-economic benefits of this will align with the principles of the Just Transition.  This will ensure an indigenous market for a broad range of lower grade and residual forest products, also supporting the development of biomass supply chains for the Heat sector.  This brings with it significant commercial opportunities for growers, processors and suppliers, as well as jobs and benefits for rural development.

View live presentation here and the presentation slides here

Speakers

John MacNamara
Head of Regulatory Affairs at Bord na Móna

Dr John MacNamara heads up Bord na Móna’s Regulatory Affairs team. This team actively engages with policymakers, regulators, trade associations and legislators at local, national and international levels, to ensure Bord na Mona’s strategic direction is aligned with forthcoming legislation, policy decisions and regulatory rule sets.  John is company secretary for the Electricity Association of Ireland, vice-chair of IBEC’s Energy Provides Group (EPC) and a member of the Brussels based Eurelectric ‘s Wholesale Markets Design Working Group. John has previously worked with the EPA as a senior scientist as well as in the private environmental sector, and he holds a PhD in Combustion Chemistry and an LLB in Irish Law.

Joseph Spollen 
Biomass Manager at Bord na Móna Power Generation


Joseph has extensive knowledge of the Bioenergy sector having held technical roles in both heat and power generation in the UK and Ireland, involving the development and operation of biomass supply chains, a graduate of UCD, DIT and Brunel University London. Joseph’s role as Biomass Manager is to ensure the delivery of Sustainable Biomass to Edenderry Power.

IrBEA Panellists

Seán Finan – IrBEA CEO – Meeting Chair

Noel Gavigan – IrBEA Technical Executive

Webinar No 6: Biomass options for domestic heating

Decarbonising Irelands housing stock is a significant task that needs to be undertaken in the next 15 to 20 years. Current plans call for deep retrofitting 60,000 houses per year for the next 10 years so that these houses reduce their heating demand to a level suitable for heat pumps, or other low heat systems. With Ireland struggling to build 30,000 houses per year for a variety of reasons including labour shortages it is obvious that the plan to deep retrofit 600,000 houses by 2030 can not be achieved. Biomass heating with wood pellet boilers or gasification boilers offer the opportunity to dramatically reduce carbon emissions from houses traditionally using oil and peat, and to do so at much less cost than the deep retrofit / heat pump model. In this webinar the discussion was about the costs and practicality of converting houses to biomass and the technology available to householders.

View the live Webinar here and the presentation slides here