Bank of Ireland has published a “white paper” on how to support the biomethane sector in Ireland, following the release of the new National Biomethane Strategy last month.
The paper is one of two that have been published by Bank of Ireland this week. The other is a more broad document on supporting Ireland’s sustainable food and farming transition.
The papers were developed in collaboration with wealth management company Davy Group.
Bank of Ireland said that the paper on biomethane explores the role biomethane plays in decarbonising the agriculture sector.
According to the bank, a scaled-up biomethane sector is “crucial” to achieving the emissions reduction target for agriculture by 2030, although coordinated climate, energy, and bioeconomy policies will be required for this.
Bank of Ireland, which has around 82,000 farmers on its books, said that both white papers emphasise that a “collaborative approach”, along with a supportive financial system, is vital in ensuring that progress on sustainable measures on-farm is maintained.
However, the bank said that further investment and research in the area is required, with increased sustainability performance being incentivised and clarity provided at a policy level, so that impactful solutions can be designed and investment directed to speed up implementation.
Commenting on these white papers, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said: “The [National Biomethane Strategy] illustrates this government’s support and commitment to developing what is yet a nascent sector.
“Finance, of course, will be a critical element of developing the sector and I welcome the engagement of Bank of Ireland and the publication of these papers today,” the minister added.
Eoin Lowry, Bank of Ireland’s head of agriculture, said: “There is no doubting the scale of the transition required, but Bank of Ireland recognises the key role that agriculture plays in powering this change and will continue to support farmers on this journey.
“Enhanced sustainable farming practices and the increased development of the biomethane sector are vital parts of the overall solutions required, and we will continue to work with a variety of stakeholders to ensure a low emissions future is achieved.”
Dr. Fergal McNamara of Davy Corporate Finance commented: “The development of an indigenous biomethane sector in Ireland will contribute to the decarbonisation of the agriculture and the natural gas sectors which in turn can assist decarbonising other hard-to-abate sectors.
“Ireland is well recognised for its potential in this sector, and we estimate the investment required to meet the Irish government’s target of 5.7TWh (terawatt-hours) by 2030 to be of the order of €1.5 billion,” Dr. McNamara said.