Construction got under way today at a €21 million biofuels plant in Co Wexford.
The plant in New Ross will supply greener diesel to the Irish and European markets. It will produce 34 million litres of fuel a year.
Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey turned the sod on the plant, which will be run by Green Biofuels Ireland, and production is due to begin in mid-2008.
PJ Darcy, chairman of the company, said it was a monumental first step in putting Ireland on the world map as a producer of biofuels.
"This is the first commercial scale facility of its kind in Ireland, and it will be capable of converting a broad spectrum of feed stocks such as animal fats and vegetable oils into high value products," he said.
Biodiesel is a clean burning alternative to mineral diesel fuel. Green Biofuels Ireland's fuel will be marketed as a 5 per cent blend and sold through the leading oil distributors.
Shareholders in the project, including local farmers, will supply the majority of raw materials - including recycled vegetable oil, animal fats and rapeseed oil.
The New Ross plant will be the first commercial scale bio-diesel production facility in the country. Thirty people will be employed there, and management hope to record a turnover of €14 million in the first year.