Up to 20 per cent of the European Union's energy demand could be met through renewable fuels such as crops by 2030, a conference in Tullamore was told today.
The one-day bioenergy conference, organised by the Irish Bioenergy Association and Teagasc, has focused on growing crops for fuel without harming the environment.
The Swedish experience of running buses on ethanol, the limited biofuel production in Ireland, the potential use of animal byproducts for anaerobic digestion, and hemp as a renewable resource for construction are also being discussed.
Speaking today, Prof Jens Bo Nielsen of the Bioenergy Department in Aalborg University in Denmark said that bioenergy gives Europe the best opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure its energy supply.
"In the most environmentally friendly scenario, renewables could fulfil up to 75 per cent of world energy needs in the long term," said Prof Nielsen.
Teagasc has unveiled a energy crops calculator that calculates the payback period for planting crops, factoring in the price of oil and biomass.
Using the tool, Barry Caslin, energy crop specialist with Teagasc, calculated that to meet the electricity and heat targets set out for Ireland, some 70,000 hectares of willow and miscanthus, a perennial grass, will be required by 2015.
