Motion or amendment: Clean Biomethane for Northern Ireland's Energy, Food and Environmental Security
Motion or amendment by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on .
- MLA
- Dr Steve Aiken OBE
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 24 March 2026
- Type
- Motion or amendment
- Business
- Motion · Private Members' Motion
- Heading
- Clean Biomethane for Northern Ireland's Energy, Food and Environmental Security
- Assembly identifier
- Document 477554
Read the official Assembly record Open Data source
Text
Clean Biomethane for Northern Ireland's Energy, Food and Environmental Security
That this Assembly notes that Northern Ireland produces significant volumes of slurry, poultry litter and food waste; recognises that Northern Ireland faces a defining moment in securing its energy future, strengthening its agri-food sector, and addressing nutrient surplus and food waste in a way that protects both the environment and the Northern Ireland economy; further recognises that anaerobic digestion and, in particular, the production of biomethane for injection into the gas grid represents a reliable, dispatchable and indigenous renewable energy source capable of reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels and insulating households and businesses from global price volatility; acknowledges that biomethane production transforms a nutrient liability into a strategic asset, stabilising slurry, improving nutrient management, and creating a circular system in which waste becomes energy and digestate supports sustainable food production, improving nutrient security and returning value back to the farmer; believes that a scaled and regionally balanced biomethane sector would cement Northern Ireland’s food security by strengthening farm viability, delivering genuine energy security through the production of green gas, and providing a credible pathway to long-term price stability for consumers; affirms that Northern Ireland must seize this opportunity to lead in green gas production, securing affordable energy, protecting the environment, and ensuring that the economic value of decarbonisation is retained within rural communities rather than exported overseas; and calls on the Executive to bring forward, as a matter of urgency, a cross-departmental biomethane and anaerobic digestion strategy, which includes a stable and inflation-proofed support mechanism, streamlined planning and grid connection processes, and investment in nutrient recovery technologies to directly tackle surplus phosphorus and ammonia challenges.
276 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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