asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline his Department's policy on the use of public refuse incineration as an alternative energy source; if he will ask the ESB to undertake a feasibility study on this matter with a view to reducing our dependency on oil and the allocation to that body of responsibility for the development of policy in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Refuse Incineration as Energy Source.
521.
I am very interested in the development of refuse incineration. Several feasibility studies have been conducted for various local authorities. My Department partly funded one such study for the Bray district, the report of which will be made available to bodies with a genuine interest in setting up an incineration scheme. The ESB have been involved in some of these studies, but are not at present responsible for policy formulation. I do not intend to change this situation, nor do I, at the moment, see any necessity for further studies.
I understand that the quality of heat from refuse is such that using it for electricity generation may be difficult, with the result that refuse incineration is usually associated with district heating. Refuse incineration/district heating schemes are widespread in other countries, particularly in continental Europe. In these countries there is usually a network of existing district heating schemes, which is not the case in Ireland. Any Irish scheme, therefore, would entail the laying of new, heavily insulated, flow and return pipelines, which is a heavy burden on the economics of the scheme. Another consideration is that the areas most suited for refuse incineration/district heating are often also those most attractive for expansion of the natural gas network, in which the State has already invested heavily. For these reasons, the economics of individual schemes are primarily determined by local rather than national considerations. My general policy is to encourage refuse incineration, where it is shown to be economic. However, my understanding is that in those countries where refuse incineration schemes are economically viable, the saving of the alternative cost of disposal of the refuse is a significant contribution to this financial success. It appears that normal refuse disposal costs are significantly more expensive in many countries than they are in Ireland.