Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 3 Dec 2003

Vol. 576 No. 2

Written Answers. - Alternative Farm Enterprises.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

108 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the discussions which have taken place on developing fuel crops, especially on providing an incentive for this alternative farm enterprise such as reduced excise charges. [29327/03]

Minister for Agriculture and Food (Mr. Walsh)

My Department had discussions with the industry interests on the feasibility of using fuel crops as raw material in alternative energy production in the context of a proposal to develop an ethanol enterprise. The mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy provided a system of aid at the rate of €45 per hectare per year for areas sown under energy crops, which should act as an incentive to farmers to grow these crops. A Commission regulation setting out detailed rules for implementing these procedures will be published shortly.

The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources is responsible for transposing the directive of 8 May 2003 on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels for transport. This directive requires member states to set indicative targets for a minimum proportion of biofuels and other renewable fuels placed on their markets.

It is widely acknowledged that further research and development is required on biofuel technologies. Both the Green Paper on sustainable energy and the national climate change strategy call for measures to limit the rate of increase in overall energy consumption and the need to encourage a switch to alternative, cleaner and more CO2 efficient sources of energy. In this context, funding of €16.25 million has been allocated under the national development plan for a research development and demonstration – RD&D – programme for renewable energy sources which is administered by Sustainable Energy Ireland. The key purpose of the programme is to support solutions that enable technical and other barriers to market uptake to be overcome across all the renewable technologies, including biomass and biofuel technologies.

Sustainable Energy Ireland has produced a briefing note on liquid biofuels which outlines the current status in an Irish context. This briefing note can be downloaded from the SEI website.

Question No. 109 answered with Question No. 72.