Push to locate new Anaerobic Digester at site of soon to close factory in Offaly

LOCAL community group Birr 20:20 is pushing to build an Anaerobic Digester (AD) on the site of Derrinlough Briquette Factory.

Chairman of the group, Seán Loughnane, told last week's AGM that one possible use for the site, which is due to close on June 1, is to construct an Anaerobic Digester on it. Mr Loughnane said there is some mythmaking about ADs and their impact but they are in fact very positive additions to any region.

He pointed out that Birr 20:20 made an application for EU Just Transition funding to carry out a feasibility study into the possibility of creating "a green energy project in the south Offaly region."

He said they were successful in their application, drew down funding of €100,000 "and hired consultants (SLR) who did a feasibility study on the AD. There are two possible sites for the AD, either in Gurteen or Derrinlough Briquette Factory and we are leaning more to the latter. SLR concluded that an AD in south Offaly would be a good thing.

"With an anaerobic digester site, location is a huge issue," he pointed out, "and there is unfortunately a bit of nimbyism about it. Digesters are received much more positively on the continent. Here in Ireland there is a bit of a fear of the unknown.

"There have been negotiations between us and Bord na Móna. Bord na Móna unfortunately is a different entity now to the Bord na Móna we once knew. They are very commercially focussed now. It could be said that now they have taken out of the midlands all the turf they want, they have forgotten their social responsibility to the people of the midlands."

Seán said Birr 20:20 has been trying hard to get support for the idea of an AD in Derrinlough.

"We have been doing our very best. We have tried the political way. We made a presentation to the councillors, to Minister Pippa Hackett, to the TDs. They are all on board with us. At the moment Barry Cowen is trying to organise a meeting with Eamon Ryan which will feature a discussion on this matter.

"However, unfortunately, our general feeling is that we are not progressing as much as we should be. It feels to us that we have hit a kind of glass ceiling, because Bord na Móna have not engaged with us as much as we would like. We have given it our best shot so far, and we will continue to put a lot of effort into it."

He said Derrinlough is a favourable location because it's a brownfield site.

Anaerobic digestion is a series of biological processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. One of the end products is biogas, which is combusted to generate electricity and heat, or can be processed into renewable natural gas and transportation fuels. The Chairman pointed out that some seasonal workers in Derrinlough Briquette Factory might offset some of the financial impact of June 1st's closure by growing and selling biomass crops to the Anaerobic Digester.

Some of the seasonal workers have parcels of land on which they could grow these crops.

The Chairman added that Principal Jon Parry and his staff in Gurteen Agricultural College are currently working on preparing a green energy course for young agricultural students. This course will begin in September.

A proposed Anaerobic Digester on industrial land in Ballyduff Tullamore was given the go-ahead in February 2022 by An Bord Pleanála. However, it has been held up because an appeal against the decision has been made to the High Court and it's under judicial review. The Tullamore AD will produce renewable gas which will be injected into the gas grid.