Keen interest at workshop on small scale AD – Presentations available

Interest is very keen in Ireland about green energy possibilities from anaerobic digestion for farmers and food processors. This was a clear conclusion from the joint IrBEA-Origin Green (Bord Bia) workshop held in Kilkenny on 21 May which was especially targeted at larger farmers and small food manufacturers with high energy demand and producing sizeable amounts of animal and food waste.

Around 60 participants heard presentations about: models and trends in the UK and wider Europe; details of the strong involvement of farmers and processors in the world-leading sustainability programme Origin Green; Dairygold’s sparkling new AD facility at Mitchelstown which has cut CO2 emissions by 1900t/yr; and numerous UK examples adapted to a wide range of production models from more 30 years of development of AD technologies. A site visit to the impressive Camphill Community at nearby Callan – operating an AD unit producing low-cost energy and valuable digestate (fertiliser) for 15 years – provided practical insights into planning, commissioning and operational aspects of a functional AD unit. The event was supported by the EU-funded Biogas3 projecthttp://www.biogas3.eu in which IrBEA is a partner. Workshop presentations can be downloaded here