Register now for
Free ‘Wood Fuel Quality Management’ Event!
GIFT in collaboration with the Forest Energy Research Programme and RBBD are hosting a one day
‘Woodfuel Quality Management’ event on the 6th of June in the Ramada Viking Hotel, Waterford.
Duration: 9am – 4pm
Keynote address: Ben Tansey, re:heat Ltd.
In March 2012, alongside Neil Harrison, Ben launched re:heat Ltd. With 20 combined years of experience in all aspects of the UK wood energy industry to draw on, re:heat is a new company that aims to stand out in the maturing UK marketplace. Re:heat deliver cost effective installations, consultancy and procurement support, fuel supply advice and a wide range of other services to public and private sector clients ranging from small private companies through to traditional estates, distilleries and even a power station. For further information about Ben’s extensive career in the wood energy industry see Ben’s career snapshot attached here.
Workshops on the day include:
1. The Italian Wood Fuel Quality Management System:
Dr Andrea Sgarbossa, Università degli Studi di Padova.
2. The Irish Wood Fuel Quality Management Framework:
Noel Gavigan, Irish Bio Energy Association (IRBEA).
3. Managing Wood Fuel Quality along the Supply Chain:
Forest Energy Research Programme, WIT.
Lunch will be followed by a practical workshop in WIT’s Carriganore campus:
- 4. Testing the Physical Parameters of Wood Fuel: Forest Energy Research Programme, WIT.
For more detailed information on these workshops please see the schedule attached.
GIFT and Bio-En-Area projects are part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
This seminar is FREE to attend but registration is required.
Don’t miss out on this opportunity, register here now!
Alternatively you may contact a member of the GIFT team to register:
Tel: 051 834107; Email: gift@wit.ie; Web: www.giftnetworkproject.eu
Additional information on the schedule for the day can be found Here
The TEA would like to invite interested parties to contact us at info@tea.ie if you are interested in joining us on a study trip to Vaxjo in Sweden on the 28th May 2012.
The trip will be 75% funded under IEE programme for suitable applicants. Hurry as time is running out.
The tour is spread over 3 days and will offer the opportunity to all traveling to visit the world Bioenergy fair.
http://www.elmia.se/en/worldbioenergy/
The RBBD Bioenarea project will be hosting an exchange visit in Rovereto and Cavalese – Trento – Italy.
This visit will comprise of a 3 day trip which is packed seminars and trips to different locations to see a mature Biomass market in action.
Why should you go?
- To see firsthand the growth and harvesting of biomass from forestry
- To learn from proven production techniques
- To get the most from your resources
- To see District Heating at its best
- Learn to grow your business from this market.
The travel and accommodation for this visit are booked by people who are attending (Tipperary Energy Agency do not make travel arrangements or bookings). You pay for your travel, accommodation and food.
If this catches your eye, click here for the details which contains everything you need to know.
If your interested, fill in the expression of interest form below.
Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA) has once again been shortlisted for another award. This time TEA has been shortlisted for the European Energy Service Award. The European Energy Service Award was established in order to honour outstanding achievements in the development and success of energy services for energy efficiency in Europe.
With many other participants’ from all over Europe, there is going to be some tough competition but TEA is confident with its track record on delivering results to their clients that they can win. There are three categories in the competition; Best Energy Service Provider, Best Energy Service Project and Best Energy Service Promoter.
The Award Ceremony will be taking place on the 20th of June in Brussels which coincides with EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012. This runs from18th – 22nd of June and promotes and celebrates the use of sustainable energy a most appropriate time to hold the award ceremony. The awards have been running since 2005.
To keep in touch with TEA’s progress, keep an eye on www.tea.ie for updates on their progress in the competition. During EU Sustainable Energy Week 2012, TEA will be posting tips everyday on the website on how to save energy.
Subproject BISYPLAN is implemented within the “BIO-EN-AREA – Improve regional policies for
bioenergy and territorial development” funded by the interregional cooperation program INTERREG
IVC. The main target of the sub-project BISYPLAN is to produce a handbook for small to medium
scale bioenergy systems for application on a local / regional level. The handbook is targeted mostly
to local stakeholders and target groups that are involved in the formulation of regional energy
planning, strategic decisions and procurement for bioenergy systems and aims to promote the
accumulated experience and the best practices achieved in several European areas.
On March 5th– 7th 2012, CERTH / ISFTA hosted the 2nd BISYPLAN subproject meeting in Ptolemaida.
The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the progress of work towards the final goal of the
subproject, to critically discuss texts already available and to set the final deadlines for delivery.
Based on the subproject’s progress, the final version of the handbook in all languages (English,
Esthonian, Greek, Italian) is expected to be available by the end of June 2012 in the subproject’s
handbook website: http://bisyplan.bioenarea.eu
North Tipperary County Council is the top local authority at reducing energy intensity. NTCC recently received it’s scorecard from SEAI on it’s progress at reducing energy intensity to deliver it’s services. The target for all public sector bodies is 33% by 2020. North Tipperary Co Co have achieved 18% of the 33% by the end of 2010, or 3.5 years ahead of target. View the Scorecard here. Analysis shows that this is saving the local Authority in the region of €278,000 per annum on energy costs and is reducing the CO2 by 24% or equivalent to 480 cars. Many more projects and actions have been implemented since, expecting to further reduce energy use andCO2 emissions substantially. Of the 17 leading public bodies that completed the pilot,NTCC was seccond overall and the number 1 local authority.
South Tipperary County council will complete the monitoring & reporting detail in 2012 and will show a similar leading performance.
Irish BioEnergy Association (IrBEA)
11th National BioEnergy Conference
Louis Fitzgerald Hotel, Newlands Cross
09.00AM, Thursday 16 February 2012
I would like to thank Tom and the Irish BioEnergy Association for inviting me here today to open your conference and launch its report on The Economic Benefits of the Development of Bioenergy in Ireland.
These are challenging times worldwide and the ongoing the economic turmoil and geo-political uncertainty only underline further the reliance we have in this country on imported fossil fuels and the exposure that we have to potential supply-side shocks. This dependency underlines the immediate and long term imperatives of enhancing energy security, reducing price volatility and ensuring energy sustainability at competitive prices for both individuals and businesses.
In light of these uncertainties the 2007 Energy White Paper is currently under review and a new energy policy framework will be published next year. The new 2012-2030 framework will fundamentally review the entire energy sector including renewable energy and will be published later this year.
Renewable energy is playing a key role in shaping Ireland’s long term energy future and is critical to delivering the policy goals of secure, clean and affordable energy supplies.
The Government is fully committed to delivering national energy efficiency and renewable energy objectives which are aimed at mitigating the economy’s reliance on imported, carbon intensive fossil fuels.
Allied to these macro imperatives for developing the renewable sector, the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive has set very ambitious renewable energy targets with the objective of achieving 20% of all energy in the EU to be from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland’s target was set at 16% of all energy consumption to be from renewable sources by 2020.
Our National Renewable Energy Action Plan, published in July 2010, sets out in detail how we intend to achieve our overall target. The target will be achieved through 10% of energy consumption in transport being from renewable sources, 12% of energy consumption in the heat sector and around 40% of energy consumption in the electricity sector coming from renewable sources.
While we have seen good progress in the last few years, particularly in relation to electricity going from 5% renewable electricity in 2005 to around 15% now, we still have a long way to go to reach our 2020 target of 40%.
And whilst wind , at 1,900MW has to date been by far the most significant source of renewable electricity and indeed is expected to contribute significantly more in the coming years the Government recognises that given its nature wind cannot deliver all of Ireland’s renewable electricity.
Meeting our targets will require us and to look at exploiting all of the sources of renewable energy available to us. Energy from biomass has certain advantages in that it can be called on when required. The heat generated can be also utilised for a useful purposes and can be counted against our renewable heat targets.
A vibrant bioenergy sector can, in an Irish context, contribute to the three pillars of European energy policy: security of supply, competitiveness and sustainability. A successful sector can also generate jobs, contribute to rural development and have positive environmental impacts through lower green house gas emissions.
Ireland has exceptional natural advantages with regard to bioenergy. We have a suitable climate for forestry and for growing energy crops, so we can be entirely cost competitive with other markets. We also have a large amount of agricultural land available for new forests or conversion to energy crops. Moreover, Anaerobic Digesters can help us deal with wastes, while at the same providing energy and rendering the waste into an easily used fertiliser. This technology can therefore help existing agricultural businesses to remain competitive while also helping to meet our renewable energy targets and help deliver on various water quality targets.
Exciting opportunities in sectors such as agriculture and forestry are already opening up as a consequence of existing measures and the number of biomass Combined Heat and Power Plants which are now emerging all over the country will mean a requirement for large amounts of feedstock such as wood biomass and energy crops.
I welcome this new report by IrBEA which adds to the knowledge-base of the sector. There can be a tendency to verge towards hyperbole when promoting new or emerging sectors but this report by taking a conservative approach to its analysis is all the more persuasive.
It highlights that the benefits to Ireland from the development of the bioenergy sector are very real. It estimates that around 3,600 permanent jobs can be created mainly in rural areas with 8,300 work years available during construction of new plants. It highlights that we currently import approximately 6 billion euro worth of fossil fuels per annum. The report estimates that a proportion of these imports can be replaced by indigenous biomass and biofuels thus saving on our balance of payments by up to 7.5%.
Bringing about the development of a sustainable, viable bioenergy sector in Ireland will not be an easy task and many challenges must be overcome. The amount of land area covered by trees is only around 10% which is the lowest rate of afforestation in Europe. If we are to realise our potential we will need to mobilise biomass from all available sources.
My Department is working with stakeholders including the Department of Agriculture to draft a Bioenergy strategy which I will publish later this year to set out how to optimise the development of a sustainable Bioenergy sector that can contribute to the meeting of our renewable energy requirements in transport, electricity and heating. In this regard the views of this sector and the findings in this report will be of great benefit in my Department’s deliberations.
More immediately I will next week be opening the REFIT 3 biomass scheme which will offer support tariffs for 310MW of electricity generation and will assist in the development of a sustainable biomass supply sector in Ireland. These supports will ensure that there is a ready demand for biomass and will build on measures such as the Afforestation and Energy Crop grant schemes run by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
For the first time, Combined Heat and Power technologies are being supported. This means that, as well as contributing to the targets for renewable electricity, the CHP projects supported under the scheme will have the added benefit of contributing to the renewable heat targets including the potential to be utilised for district heating programmes or manufacturing.
The co-firing of biomass in the three peat fired power stations at Edenderry, West Offaly and Lough Ree, will also be supported. This could create a demand of approximately 900,000 tonnes of biomass per annum which should give incentive to foresters to grow new forests or to extend existing forests. Material previously regarded as waste, such as thinnings and sawdust can be used as biomass fuel – adding value to forestry. For farmers, there is now a realistic option to diversify into energy crops, such as willow, which can assist in providing a stable income for a number of years.
Anaerobic Digestion is also being supported under REFIT3. It offers a realistic means of dealing with certain wastes from agriculture, industry and the household while at the same time producing energy in the form of biogas. Biogas is used most commonly to produce electricity and heat on site, but it may also in the future be injected into the natural gas network or used as a fuel in the transport sector.
The scheme will, by paying a premium for electricity from energy crops, critically underpin the energy crops grant programme operated by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the development of Anaerobic Digestion will in particular assist in usefully disposing of agricultural waste products. The private forestry sector will also benefit significantly as the co-firing project will present a new market for their product.
The design of the scheme recognises the cross-sectoral relationships and dependencies and my Department consulted with the Department of Agriculture, SEAI and Teagasc in agreeing the nature of the support and arriving at the most cost effective means of delivering on our strategic goals.
The draft terms and conditions have been on my Department’s website for the past fortnight and will be open for feedback and requests for clarification until the end of the week. My Department is currently taking the feedback and questions received from you to date into consideration and based on this it is putting the final touches to the scheme and I will be opening the scheme for applications immediately thereafter.
The state also has an obligation under the Directive to increase the renewable energy content in transportation fuel. The Biofuel Obligation Scheme, which was introduced in 2010, currently requires all transport fuel suppliers in the State to include 4% biofuel in their overall annual fuel sales. This has created an annual requirement for approximately 220 million litres of biofuel in Ireland. This requirement will increase to 500 million litres as the obligation is ramped up to 10% by 2020 and will provide opportunities for sustainable indigenous production of biofuels.
These are challenging, unprecedented times. I believe that it is fundamental to economic recovery and well being to ensure that we have as much indigenously produced sustainable energy as possible available to us. By doing so we not only improve our balance of payments position, and reduce economic exposure to volatile global fuel prices but we reduce our overall level carbon emissions.
We all have a role in delivering the best energy solutions for this country which ensure security of supply, reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels, de-carbonise the economy and contribute to overall competitiveness.
I again thank you for the opportunity to speak to you all and look forward to hearing your views.
This is a final reminder to register to the SERVE Workshop – Using the Results from SERVE to influence Sustainable Energy Development in Co. Tipperary
Key issues to be discussed-
- Nearly 100MW of wind installed in County Tipperary but potential for a further 500MW. What are the impacts of such development? What are the local benefits?
- Nearly 20 MW of biomass heating systems installed in the County (residential and commercial). How can the targets of 144MW be achieved? How will the investment be managed?
- 1,500 homes per year to be upgrade by 2020 (at a minimum). Do we have the resources, skills and knowledge to achieve this? How can efficiencies be improved (group purchasing, community approaches etc)? Where will the funds come from?
- What roles will the Local Authority have to take? Is there sufficient scope with County Development Plans?
- What does industry need to do?
- How can we maximise job creation? Can sustainable energy be a driver of investment and enterprise development?
- How can we link with EU Initiatives e.g. Convenant of Mayors, Horizon 2020 Research Funding and other Funding?
- What will the future role of the TEA be?
- What are the key actions and who are the action holders for the next 3 years (to 2015)
- Should we establish a County Tipperary Sustainable Energy Forum to drive change and ensure coordination
Find out more and register at: http://servecommunity.ie/news/serve-conference-and-events-20112012/serve-workshops-beyond-serve/
