Biomethane for Carbon and Community Project

Tipperary County Council (Lead) and its partners the Technological University of the Shannon, the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation and the Tipperary Energy Agency are commencing a collaborative project that will see a new Biomethane Development Office (BDO) ultimately centred on the National Bioeconomy Campus at Lisheen, Thurles, Co. Tipperary. The Biomethane for Carbon and Community Project (BCC) will enable Tipperary and its hinterland respond to new national policy direction and supports for biomethane development, including the new National Biomethane Strategy. It will ensure that local communities are at the forefront of biomethane development (with associated reduced reliance on fossil fuels and a focus on biodiversity and economic benefits in the form of local jobs) and will look to prepare the conditions for future investment with a supportive network of farmers/biomass suppliers in the area. 

This Capacity Building and Research phase will see a team of dedicated staff working with and developing synergies with the community, famers, the private sector and the Government to enable the development of biomethane in Tipperary and the Region.

Key outputs of the Biomethane for Carbon and Community Project:

1. Carry out a feasibility study of the potential for biomethane development in the area. This would include assessment of available biomethane resources (agricultural slurry, organic wastes etc) as well as potential end use (gas injection, direct supply etc).

2. Implement a biomethane communication campaign and capacity building activities aimed at communities, the agricultural sector and others.

3. Collaborate with farming stakeholders to consider how the biomethane and biodiversity concept can be incorporated into existing schemes and practices to encourage, communicate and enable sustainable farming practices that are compatible with climate action, biodiversity and energy production.

4. Consider suitable community and cooperative models for biomethane development.

5. Plan for the Tipperary BDO to become a centre of excellence for biomethane, and an example for similar cooperative concepts both in Tipperary and the wider region.

6. Identify how the BCC proposal can support the DZ concept thereby reducing Green House Gas emissions in the area, and support land use diversification, carbon capture and biodiversity.

7. Identify a suitable site in the National Bioeconomy Campus for a Biomethane processing facility with a view to supporting investment in such a facility (including options for community/cooperative ownership models.

8. Set out a specification and timeline for Planning and Licencing, Construction and Delivery of a Biomethane processing facility with private sector support.

9. Consider the synergies between the emerging and developing Bioeconomy sector and Biomethane sector with a view to positioning the National Bioeconomy Campus, Tipperary as vibrant centre of excellence in this regard.

 
The Biomethane for Carbon and Community is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the EU Just Transition Fund Programme 2021-2027

For more details see here: Biomethane for Carbon and Community - TUS