Anaerobic Digestion in Ireland Encouraged by Biofuels Obligation Rate Rise

Anaerobic Digestion in Ireland will be one of the Biofuel resources encouraged by the Government's announced Irish Biofuels Obligation Rate Rise.

Ireland has followed EU targets set for increasing bio-energy production and use, by announcing a rise which will come into force at the start of 2019.

Ireland has a great largely untapped resource in its farms which could, and hopefully soon will, be raising their own efficiency, and improving their management of farm waste by installing their own biogas plants.

Recent developments in raw biogas upgrading equipment, to make pure methane (biomethane) of the same quality as the natural gas in national gas grids, also mean that it is easier than ever for farm biogas plants to purify their raw biogas.

Once anaerobic digestion plants upgrade and produce biomethane, they will be able to sell that energy in compressed form for use in transport fleets.

What makes this a remarkable win-win situation, is that using methane as a transport fuel reduces air-pollution at the same time. methane is a clean burning fuel with vastly reduced emissions of the sort produced by diesel and petrol fuels.

IrBEA Welcomes Government’s Biofuel Blend Increase to 10%

Press Release: 10th April 2018
Statement from Irish Bioenergy Association

The Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA) welcomes the Government’s announcement that the biofuels obligation rate will increase from 8% to 10% from January 1st 2019. The decision was taken this week by Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten.

IrBEA responded to the open consultation on the BOS in January 2018 recommending and supporting the proposed increase.

Ger Devlin (IrBEA CEO) stated: “Biofuels represent nearly all of the carbon emission reductions achieved by Ireland in the transport sector in the last decade. Their continued use during the infrastructural transition to electric vehicles and renewable generated electricity is crucial if we are to reach our climate targets for 2030 and 2050. The new blend rate will now displace c.600 000 tonnes of CO2 annually.”

The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that biofuels will need to make up a third of the world’s total transport energy by 2050 if the Paris climate targets are to be met, making them as important as electromobility and efficiency in decarbonising transport the transport sector.

IrBEA supports sustainably produced EU biofuels with low iLUC impacts such as conventional bioethanol and biodiesel (the main biofuels used in Ireland today).

Sustainably produced biofuels are an important part of the global bioeconomy revolution. As a world leader in agriculture, Ireland is ideally positioned to benefit from growth in the bioeconomy. The Irish government should continue to implement policies – such as the biofuels obligation – that support the sector.

James Cogan, Head of the Biofuels Transport Group within IrBEA, said:

“Europe has been dithering over transport climate action for the last decade but the climate problem hasn’t gone away.  Indeed transport carbon emissions have grown in the period.  In raising the biofuels obligation Ireland is grabbing the bull by the horns. Conventional EU sourced biofuels and biogas are safe, effective, economical and scaleable, and they act as an anchor for bioeconomy innovation and investment. The next decade has to be about confidence, progress and growth.”

With over 200 members, IrBEA is the national association representing the bioenergy industry on the island of Ireland. The main objectives of the association are to influence policy makers, to promote the development of bioenergy and to promote the interests of its members.

Improving public awareness, networking and information sharing and liaising with similar interest groups are other key areas of work in promoting biomass as an environmental, economic and socially-sustainable energy resource. www.irbea.org and www.bioenergyfutureireland.com

In the following paragraphs er have provided a two additional perspectives on the rise in the biofuels obligation Ireland:

Ireland ups biofuel obligations

April 20, Ireland’s Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment published a policy statement confirming its intention to increase the biofuel obligation to 10% from 1 January 2019 and to 11% in 2020. Ireland’s Biofuels Obligation Scheme requires suppliers of road transport fuel to ensure a certain proportion of the fuel that they place on the market is biofuel. … via Ireland ups biofuel obligations (corrected)

Ireland increases crop-based biofuel transport share, provides ‘business certainty’ 

Ireland’s environment ministry has decided to increase the crop-based biofuel share in transport to 10% from the existing 8% and draw a 2030 plan aiming to provide long-term business certainty in the field.

Irish Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Denis Naughten published a draft order, according to which the biofuel obligation rate to 10% (by volume) will be increased from 1 January 2019.

The minister also proposed a long-term plan for the Biofuels Obligation Scheme, which was set up in 2010.

The scheme sets out an obligation for suppliers of road transport fuels to include a certain percentage of environmentally sustainable biofuels across their general fuel mix.

The “biofuel obligation rate” was initially set at 4% and has gradually increased to the current rate of 8% (by volume).

“The Biofuels Obligation Scheme is a vital policy measure that increases the use of renewable energy and decreases emissions in the transport sector. Today I have published a Policy Statement setting out the increased level of obligation and future development of the scheme to 2030 and beyond,” the minister said in a statement.

He added that the scheme currently contributes an estimated 450,000 tonnes in carbon emission reductions each year towards Ireland’s national targets.

“The changes I have announced today will increase this contribution to over 600,000 tonnes annually,” he emphasised.

The ministry’s proposals were warmly welcomed as “rational” by Irish farmers, because crop-based biofuels “have up to 70% less GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions than fossil fuels, reduce dependence on imports from outside the EU and provide a much-needed boost to EU arable farmers”.

However, they warned that the government should now take action at EU level and prevent the European Commission from gradually phasing-out first-generation biofuels. via Irelandbiofueltransport

New Renewable Energy Regulations in Germany Make Biogas Funding Less Attractive

A new German renewables law will create new biogas funding hurdles, however, the effect will only effect certain biogas plant sizes and types, and shouold be seen against a strong biogas market in the country. In the long-term delivering value to the taxpayer is essential and hopefully these measures will help do that. here is the original press release/ article:

Germany's amended renewable energy sources law (EEG 2012), which came into force in January, is unlikely to provide a significant boost to biogas capacity because stricter rules have made it more difficult to fund investment, the German Biogas Association told Platts.

The association represents around 4,600 members including biogas producers, plant makers, as well as agricultural and industrial biogas plant operators.

"In general, feed-in tariffs are lower than in the past, and some provisions make it more difficult to obtain credit," association spokeswoman Andrea Horbelt said. "We assume that a lower number of plants will be built because of stricter conditions which hamper rather than promote capacity expansion."

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However, the impact of the changes varies within the biogas sector and the new rules were influenced by the federal government's change in energy policy last year, which entailed green energy a prominent role in the future energy mix.

From 2012, biogas plant operators have to meet certain criteria to qualify for feed-in fees that are fixed for a 20-year period. Feed-in tariffs are usually well above the market price and the difference is passed on to end- consumers in form of a surcharge, although energy-intensive users are exempt.

Certain plant operators, for instance, will forfeit the feed-in fee if they fail to prove that at least 60% of heat from a block-unit power station has actually been used. This creates uncertainty and makes banks reluctant to provide loans, Horbelt said. Under the previous system, which was more complicated but more generous, biogas companies were certain of receiving a fixed feed-in fee and could claim various extra bonuses for meeting additional criteria.

Medium-sized biogas plant projects are likely to be those most affected by the combined effect of lower feed-in fees and tighter eligibility criteria, Horbelt said.

By contrast, higher feed-in fees for small plants with a capacity of up to 75 KW could encourage growth in this sector which so far attracted little investment because costs per installed KW are generally higher than for larger plants, Horbelt said. Fees in this segment have risen to 25 euro cents/KWh (32 US cents/KWh) from around 22 euro cents/KWh.

Operators of large plants of 750 KW and over will also see a rise in fees, though future business will very much depend on feeds into gas networks after biogas has been treated to adjust its methane content to that of natural gas.

"We expect that capacity will be added [in this area],? Horbelt said.

But owners of new large plants which will be connected to the grid from 2014 onward will face an additional challenge: They will have to market biogas directly to power traders and receive revenues at exchange-based, market prices instead of feed-in fees. The government will, however, compensate them for the difference between the fixed feed-in tariff and the market price.

"The system is more complicated and carries more risk," the spokeswoman said. "The [old] EEG was tried and tested; it created a functioning market system, and there is the risk that the [spirit of the] EEG is being eroded, that this will lead to a development away from the EEG and the investment certainty it previously offered."

Existing plant operators still qualify for fixed feed-in tariffs but can opt to shift to the market premium-based model -- a move that would only be lucrative if market prices were to rise to above the fixed feed-in tariff.

In 2011, the use of biogas for power production expanded by around 21% year-on-year to 17.5 TWh, according to preliminary data from the Working Group on Renewable Energies (AGEE). A further 16.5 TWh was used for heat production.

The government plans to boost biogas-based injections into the national gas grid to 6 billion cubic meters/year by 2020 and to 10 Bcm/year by 2030. By the end of 2010, grid injections from 44 biogas plants amounted to nearly 270 million cu m, based on data by the grid regulator BNetzA, which last summer forecast biogas feeds in 2011 would reach 436 million cu m.

View the original article here

Renewable Energy Association UK REA Names Gaynor Hartnell as Chief Executive

The Renewable Energy Association is the largest trade body for renewable energy in the UK and represents all renewable energy technologies.  Gaynor Hartnell, who was formerly Director of Policy at the Association, has just been appointed as Chief Executive.

Mark Candlish, Chair of the REA’s board of directors said;

REA Press release
2010/02/23 16:00:37.374 GMT

“I am delighted to announce the appointment of Gaynor Hartnell as the Association’s new Chief Executive.  Gaynor has been key to the success of the Association since it was founded in 2001, and in the last 10 months has proved herself the natural successor to Philip Wolfe in her interim role as Policy Director.  Not only does Gaynor have an excellent grasp of renewable policy issues, but she is also well respected by industry and government and is an excellent champion for the industry.”

Gaynor Hartnell said;

“I am very much looking forward to leading the Association and building up its membership base.  These are exciting times for the sector.  This has to be the decade of delivery for renewables, the time when deployment ramps up tenfold.  New players will enter and transform the energy market, with the introduction of feed in tariffs this April.  A year later we will finally have financial incentives operating across the whole spectrum of energy applications - power, transport fuels, heat and green gas.  Renewables can then play a full role, with a diverse range of complementary technologies, which together bring wide-ranging benefits.”

The Association will shortly move into much larger offices in the Capital Tower, next to Waterloo Station.  This will facilitate the expansion of services needed to support the rapidly growing renewables industry with information services, proactive policy development, training and networking events.

Paul Thompson has been promoted to Head of Policy.  Paul joined the REA in 2008 to work on transport fuels, and over the past few months has extended his remit to cover the Renewable Heat Incentive and Renewables Obligation.