Īrijas Enerģētikas rīcības programmā iekļauts atbalsts īscirtmeta kārklu plantācijām

"The Ulster Farmers’ Union has welcomed DARD’s Renewable Energy Action Plan, which was launched this week by Minister David Cairns MP.
UFU Rural Enterprise Chairman Michael Harnett said DARD’s Action Plan and their acknowledgment that the land based sector is uniquely placed to grasp emerging energy markets is a positive signal to farmers. “We hope it now gives this issue a new focus” he said.
Mr Harnett added; “The market for environmentally friendly energy sources is undoubtedly there and what we now need is good information flow to farmers, and an effective infrastructure and supply chain for renewables in Northern Ireland”.
Michael Harnett said he was pleased that DARD’s Action Plan had incorporated many of the initiatives proposed by the UFU on behalf of the farming community. He said; “Climate change is now at the top of everyones agenda. DARD’s Action Plan is rightly focused on exploiting opportunities for alternative land uses and increasing awareness of new technologies. We welcome some of the specific initiatives which have been suggested such as a successor programme to support the continued establishment of short rotation coppice and we already have the £500,000 EBids Programme in place to help the establishment of infrastructure for the harvesting and storage of biomass such as willows”.
”The establishment of an Energy from Agri Food Waste Challenge Fund, for example to help utilise manures to produce renewable energy is also positive, as is planned co-operation between CAFRE and the Carbon Trust to give farmers new advice on energy efficiency on farms. We also welcome the commitment from CAFRE to offer technical advice and demonstration facilities to farmers and the commitment from AFBI to look at future technologies. We don’t want to see research duplicated, but we would urge AFBI to conduct research which would be specifically tailored to Northern Ireland issues”.
Deputy President Graham Furey said the Union would continue to press on issues which the UFU felt still needed attention. Mr Furey said; “We still need policies which would give growers in Northern Ireland an equal chance compared to growers in other EU Member States. For example farmers in the Republic of Ireland enjoy tax incentives on the production of biofuels and a financial top-up on the EU Energy Crops Scheme. This is not the case in Northern Ireland and damages our hopes of creating a sustainable supply of renewable energy off farms. We will also be addressing practical issues such as the very high connection charges which are currently in place for farmers who are seeking to generate electricity on farm and supply it to the national grid”.
“We also want to see significant progress with public procurement policies. The Government should take a lead in generating demand for heat and power produced from sustainable farm sources. DARD have suggested establishing a new policy unit to steer their involvement in the development of renewable energy in the agriculture sector and we will be working very closely with them on these and other issues. We will also retain our commitment to exploring other alternative land uses”. "

Oriģināls