Renewables Open Day at Loughry Campus

21 August 2007
Nigel Moore, Renewable Energy Technologist, CAFRE, Greenmount Campus

DARD in conjunction with the industry (AFBI, UFU, Action Renewables, Carbon Trust and RSPB), have organised a Renewables Open Day, hosted by CAFRE at their Loughry Campus on Thursday 23rd August, 2007. The event will open at 10.00 AM and run throughout the day with the last tour of the technical presentations beginning at 7.00 PM.

The Renewables Open Day is a must for all farmers/growers and those interested in developing the opportunities that exist within the renewables sector.

The technical presentations will cover a range of areas, namely:

Energy Efficiency - This presentation will summarise the results of a CAFRE/Carbon Trust study, which included on-farm audits, quantifying theenergy consumption on NI farms and will outline potential saving solutions across all agricultural sectors.

Renewable Crops - Staff from AFBI and CAFRE will outline a range of renewable crops which can be grown in Northern Ireland and offer alternative land use and market opportunities for all land owners.

Wind Turbines - Action Renewables and CAFRE staff will examine the decision making process and the economics of electricity generation from wind power.

Biomass for heat - This presentation will outline the economics of installing a biomass burner and will look in detail at the installation of a 150kW biomass burner recently installed at Loughry Campus.

A large trade exhibitor area will also be present to allow participants to ask specific questions from suppliers of renewable equipment.

Throughout the day a series of four seminars will be delivered by an excellent panel of eminent speakers.

There will be ample opportunity for questions with the sessions chaired by John Gilliland, Sustainable Development Commissioner for NI, Graham Furey, Deputy President UFU, Tom Morrow, Irish Farmers Journal and David Bell, Invest NI.

Seminars

EU Strategy:

Sir Ben Gill, former President of the National Farmers Union and Chairman of the UK Biomass Task Force will present a paper on the EU Strategy for Renewables. In 2005, Ben chaired the Government’s Biomass Task Force which produced a comprehensive set of recommendations (which have been largely adopted) to improve the uptake of biomass as a renewable energy source.

The purpose of the Task Force was to identify possible measures to stimulate the development of biomass energy and to analyse the financial and broader economic costs and benefits of each recommendation in order to make recommendations to Government, industry and public bodies. The Task Force reported to Government in October 2005 and their work led to the UK Biomass Strategy published in May 2007.

Sustainable Raw Materials:

Dr John Williams joined the National Non Foods Crops Centre (NNFCC) in May 2006 as Technology Transfer Manager for biopolymers. He is responsible for identifying and helping develop market opportunities in renewable polymers and also the bulk and commodity chemical markets e.g. biosolvents. NNFCC is instrumental in raising awareness of developments in the use of renewable materials (from the land based sectors) and the positive impact this can have on reducing CO2 emissions related to the construction and heating/cooling of buildings.

Energy From Waste:

Dr Lindsay Easson has been appointed as Head of the new Environment and Renewable Energy Centre at AFBI, Hillsborough.

AFBI is committed to developing a programme of research into aspects of renewable energy relevant to the agricultural industry in Northern Ireland. A few of the programme areas include bioremediation of farm dirty water using biomass, anaerobic digestion, and harvesting, drying and storage of willows. Lindsay’s presentation will deal with the opportunities open to Northern Ireland farmers to produce ‘Energy from Waste’.

Maximising the Environmental Benefits of Renewable Technologies:

Dr James Robinson is Conservation Manager for the RSPB in Northern Ireland, coordinating conservation action for birds and their habitats.

The RSPB’s overall objective is for bioenergy to contribute to climate change mitigation at an appropriate and sustainable level without having significant negative impacts on wildlife and the wider environment. They are also keen to see development of other renewable crops, e.g. oil seeds for lubrication oils, benefiting wildlife in Northern Ireland. At this seminar, he will identify some of the pros and cons of renewable crops for wildlife and outline how he thinks the development of this exciting industry in Northern Ireland can produce profitable renewable crops that do not damage wildlife and their habitats.