Bridging Northern Ireland’s energy gap – agriculture will be very much part of the solution

​Queen’s University Belfast academic – and former Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) president – Ian Marshall believes that agriculture will be at the very heart of an energy revolution that is set take place over the coming years, writes Richard Halleron.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Moreover, this can be achieved in ways that will not increase competition for land at farm level. Driving all of this will be the adoption of new technologies that add value to the perceived ‘waste streams’ generated by the industry at the present time.

“Looking ahead, agriculture will not be seen as part of the problem, where these matters are concerned,” Marshall explained.

“Rather the industry will be regarded as a pivotal part of the solution.”

Pictured (L-R) are: Keith Morrison, Project Director, Transmission Investment; Alan Campbell, Managing Director, SONI; Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy; Ronan McKeown, Customer and Market Services Director, NIE Networks; Trevor Haslett, Chairman, CASE; Martin Doherty, Centre Manager, CASE; Micaela Diver, Partner, A&L Goodbody, Mark Stockdale, Partner, A&L Goodbody.Pictured (L-R) are: Keith Morrison, Project Director, Transmission Investment; Alan Campbell, Managing Director, SONI; Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy; Ronan McKeown, Customer and Market Services Director, NIE Networks; Trevor Haslett, Chairman, CASE; Martin Doherty, Centre Manager, CASE; Micaela Diver, Partner, A&L Goodbody, Mark Stockdale, Partner, A&L Goodbody.
Pictured (L-R) are: Keith Morrison, Project Director, Transmission Investment; Alan Campbell, Managing Director, SONI; Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy; Ronan McKeown, Customer and Market Services Director, NIE Networks; Trevor Haslett, Chairman, CASE; Martin Doherty, Centre Manager, CASE; Micaela Diver, Partner, A&L Goodbody, Mark Stockdale, Partner, A&L Goodbody.

Making this happen, according to Marshall, will require a combined push by the business sector, academia and government.”

He continued:“The days of everyone working separately, when it comes to delivering future energy solutions, are over. Everyone with an interest in this critically important issue must come to together and work for the common good.”

Marshall cites anaerobic digestion (AD) as a technology that can be significantly developed to help meet NI’s energy needs for the future.

Today the sector is helping to meet local green energy needs through the production of electricity.

“But this is only scratching the surface,” the former UFU president explained.

“The heat produced by AD operations can be used as a valuable energy source. This potential remains totally untapped at the present time.

“We also know that many of the gases produced by way of AD can have significant bvalues in their own right. For example, methane can be used to produce amino acids, a fundamental component of protein.

“So, there is no reason why we cannot produce significantly higher proportions of the protein needed for animal diets, thereby reducing our reliance on imported soya. In addition, ammonia is an extremely effective carrier of hydrogen.”

Marshall foresees the development of AD hubs across Northern Ireland, which would be commercially owned and managed.

“Farmers would supply the slurry needed to drive these operations,” he commented. “Step one would be the separation of the slurry into its solid and liquid components.

“Farmers would retain the liquid component, which would be subsequently used as a fertiliser.

“The solid fractions of the slurry supplied would be used as an energy source, courtesy of the AD operation.

Marshall continued:“Farmers would be paid for the slurry solids they supply. Committing to AD in this way should also allow carbon credits to be drawn down by the producers involved.

“Extracting valuable organic fertilisers from the digestate leaving the AD plant will also add to the economic feasibility of the entire process.”

Ian Marshall commented:“The commercial development of these hubs by organisations not directly involved in production agriculture takes the pressure off individual farmers to establish their own AD operations.

“Such an approach will also reduce the amount competition for land at farm level, from an energy production perspective.”

Some of the political foundations required to make all of this happen were put in place by Northern Ireland Executive ministers prior to last year’s moth balling of the Stormont institutions.

Ian Marshall concluded:“But this will only get us so far down the road. We need real political buy-in to develop a meaningful green energy sector in Northern Ireland. And this will require a functioning Executive at Stormont.”

Marshall’s comments coincide with the confirmation that the Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy (CASE) has launched the inaugural Northern Ireland Energy Summit – a one-day conference that will see global experts, government and energy industry leaders gather in Belfast this June.

Keynote speakers at the Summit, which is supported by corporate law firm A&L Goodbody, NIE Networks, SONI and Transmission Investment will include:

- A senior US government official

- Jayne Brady, Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service

- Kersti Berge, Director of Energy Climate Change, Scottish Executive;

- Dr Xavier Garcia Casals, Senior Expert on Energy Transition, International Renewable Energy Agency

- Professor Mark Ferguson, Chairman of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Board and former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland

- Professor David Rooney, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast.

Taking place in the ICC Belfast on Wednesday 21 June, the Northern Ireland Energy Summit will be chaired by BBC Economics and Business Editor John Campbell.

The event will focus on building an informed consensus on how best to take Northern Ireland forward in meeting its renewable energy targets and net-zero ambitions, whilst driving 10X economic growth across innovation, sustainability and inclusion.

Trevor Haslett, Chair of CASE, commented:“The aim of this important event is to showcase the potential which Northern Ireland has to lead the world in energy transformation, creating economic growth opportunities in net zero technologies, helping to make society healthier and more prosperous.”

Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary of the Department for the Economy said:“The Northern Ireland Energy Summit is an important and exciting milestone in the delivery of the Path to Net Zero Energy Strategy’s commitment to growing our green economy.

“This Summit brings together key players; international and domestic; investors, industry, academia and government who are collaborating to deliver the substantial economic benefits involved in repositioning how we develop, generate and consume energy.

“The delivery of a net zero energy system for Northern Ireland is driving growth in our 10Xeconomyfocusing on innovation, sustainability and inclusion.”

The Northern Ireland Energy Summit will also provide delegates the opportunity to input and shape the ‘Pathway to a Renewable Future’ policy paper, which is being drafted by CASE.

Research already supported by CASE confirms the strongly held views of people like Ian Marshall when it comes to identifying local agriculture’s role as a key energy provider of the future.

The reality is that turning livestock manure and grass silage into biomethane could, indeed, help meet demand for energy as well as significantly reducing Northern Ireland’s carbon footprint, scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have found.

A recent study, which was led by experts at the university and the Agri-Food and Biosciences’ Institute (AFBI) found that Northern Ireland has significantly greater volumes of the renewable gas available than previously thought.

The work was supported by The Centre for Advanced Sustainable Energy and industry partners Phoenix Natural Gas, Agri-AD and Enerchem.

It included spatial mapping and life cycle assessment to evaluate the potential of biomethane for the decarbonisation of the gas grid.

One of the key findings was in total, there is estimated to be over 6000 GWh worth, which is more than 80 per cent of Northern Ireland’s Gas Distribution Network demand.

The researchers also found that using biomethane produced through anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and underutilised grass silage could lead to a significant greenhouse gas emission reduction of c.845,000 tonnes of CO₂ in Northern Ireland - this is around the same amount of carbon dioxide that would be released in driving a family diesel car around the globe 170,000 times.

Professor David Rooney, Dean of Internationalisation and Reputation at Queen’s University Belfast, commented:“Tackling issues of climate change and rising fuel costs has led to an increased interest in regionally generated renewable gas and decarbonising gas use has never been more important.

“At Queen’s, this is something we have been working on for many years and our latest study highlights the unique opportunity we have in Northern Ireland.

“We are a country that has high agricultural intensity and there is huge scope to work closely with the sector to capture problematic emissions and redirect them to where they have greater value to the regional economy.”

He added:“We have shown that not only could 80 per cent of the current gas demand be displaced, but that the approach would also help to deal with other problematic emissions which impact water quality. Future work will more closely examine the costs as well as economic and environmental value.”

Iain Hoy, Energy Transition Manager at Phoenix Natural Gas outlined the opportunities this amount of biomethane opens up.

“6000 GWh of biomethane is a vast source of renewable energy with the potential to heat over half-a-million homes every year,” he explained.

“Investing in the production of this indigenous energy source and injecting it into the gas network supports the decarbonisation of our homes and businesses, protects the biodiversity of our rural landscape and will create significant numbers of new jobs throughout the rural economy: supporting the Executive’s target of doubling the renewable energy economy by 2030.

Hoy continued:“Biomethane’s ability to offer multiple benefits to many different sectors makes it extremely valuable and alongside hydrogen it will perform a critical role in the Northern Ireland Gas Network’s Pathway to Net-Zero.”

The ‘Path to Net-Zero’ represents a future energy strategy for Northern Ireland. It sets a long term vision of net zero carbon and affordable energy.

This approach will lead to the highest levels of energy efficiency, thus reducing the amount of energy we need, whilst making sure the energy we do use comes from clean renewable sources.

Two key targets have been set to drive these changes.

The first relates to energy efficiency: in other words, delivering energy savings of 25% from buildings and industry by 2030.

The second focuses on the up-scaling of renewable energy sources. The target is to meet at least 70% of electricity consumption from a diverse mix of renewable sources by 2030.

This energy strategy is also about growing our economy and supporting the ‘10X Economic Vision’ for Northern Ireland.

It is envisaged that the development of clean energy opportunities can deliver substantial economic benefits, attracting investment to Northern Ireland.

Such developments will also position local companies to compete for the global investment being made in low carbon energy technologies.

As a consequence of this, the Net-Zero strategy also sets out a further economic target. It envisages a doubling in size of the green economy – with turnovers in this context reaching £2 billion by 2030.

Energy accounts for almost 60% of Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions. The Net-Zero strategy sets out a pathway for energy to 2030.

However, it will also mobilise the skills, technologies and behaviours needed to secure the vision of net-zero carbon and affordable energy by 2050.

The plan is to reduce energy-related emissions by 56% by 2030 relative to 1990 levels in line with the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) Carbon Budget.

​Pictured (L-R) are: Keith Morrison, Project Director, Transmission Investment; Alan Campbell, Managing Director, SONI; Mike Brennan, Permanent Secretary, Department for the Economy; Ronan McKeown, Customer and Market Services Director, NIE Networks; Trevor Haslett, Chairman, CASE; Martin Doherty, Centre Manager, CASE; Micaela Diver, Partner, A&L Goodbody, Mark Stockdale, Partner, A&L Goodbody.