AN ANNOUNCEMENT on the grant levels for farmers growing miscanthus (elephant grass) is expected soon, Minister of State for Agriculture Trevor Sargent has said.
There are up to 2,500 hectares of the energy crop already planted in the State with the aid of a €1,450 per hectare establishment grant which was given when oil prices rocketed in 2007.
The Department of Agriculture is reviewing this pilot bioenergy scheme, which provided grants to cover ground preparation, fencing, vegetation control and the purchase of planting stock.
“The use of miscanthus as a co-fuel with peat is also being developed with trials ongoing at the peat-burning power stations. Eventually it will be possible to convert crops like miscanthus into liquid biofuel through the use of emerging second-generation technologies,” said Mr Sargent.
“My department is currently reviewing the operation of the pilot bioenergy scheme to assess the need for a new scheme from 2010 onwards and an announcement will be made shortly,” he told the Dáil during the week.
Seán Sherlock TD (Lab) and Michael Creed TD (FG) had complained to him that the start-up grant for growing the crop was too low, as was the price being paid for electricity generated for the national grid.