Debate contribution: Energy, Food and Environmental Security: Biomethane
Debate contribution by Mr Declan McAleer on .
- MLA
- Mr Declan McAleer
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 April 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Energy, Food and Environmental Security: Biomethane
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5494116
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I welcome the motion. It is timely and appropriate. There is strong merit in the direction set out in the motion, particularly in recognising biomethane as a reliable and indigenous energy source that can support the North's energy security, strengthen our agri-food sector and contribute meaningfully to environmental protection. Given the volumes of slurry, poultry litter and food waste that we produce, anaerobic digestion presents a practical opportunity to turn what has traditionally been a nutrient and waste challenge into a strategic asset for energy and agriculture. The timing is good, because those of us from rural areas know that this has been a very long and wet winter with the cattle being inside. Farmers need to get out for the slurry, because the tanks are nearly full. It is timely that we start looking strategically at how we can look at the likes of slurry as a resource and an opportunity as opposed to waste or a by-product. Biomethane offers clear advantages. It reduces our reliance on imported fossil fuels, helps to insulate households and businesses from global price volatility and contributes directly to decarbonisation targets by displacing natural gas in the energy mix. In addition, the circular nature of anaerobic digestion means that waste streams are converted into renewable energy, while digestate can be returned to the land. With fertiliser prices now in the region of £700 a ton, it is a good opportunity to look at that circular economy and how those prices can also be cut. That would support more sustainable nutrient management, as Patsy said a while ago, and overall soil fertility. Biomethane has real potential to strengthen both energy and food security in a joined-up way. A scaled and well-designed biomethane sector could also provide significant benefits for rural economies. Farm businesses supplying slurry, silage and other organic materials could develop new income streams, while improved nutrient-recovery systems could also address environmental pressures such as phosphorus and ammonia surpluses. Most of us on the AERA Committee had the opportunity to go to see the small business research initiative, funded by DAERA, in action just up the road at the Blakiston Houston Estate. It showed that innovation in slurry processing and nutrient separation is already under way. That could play an important role in unlocking a more efficient and environmentally responsible use of agricultural resources.
Yes, of course.
I agree with the Member. I was going to come to that later in my contribution. It is important that we look at waste and slurry, because we do not want the situation where farmers compete with large-scale AD plants for silage. That needs to be managed. If the opportunity is to be fully realised, it must be delivered in a way that is regionally balanced and economically fair. Large anaerobic digestion plants and corporate operators are naturally best positioned to benefit from economies of scale and access to finance and export markets. Many of the facilities are concentrated east of the Bann, while key feedstocks such as silage are more abundant west of the Bann. I should point out that, certainly as of 2024, according to the ministerial response to a question that I asked, there are no AD plants in County Fermanagh. Without careful policy design, there is a risk that that imbalance could widen, leaving smaller rural and community-based projects at a disadvantage. It is also important to ensure that farmers and small producers are not displaced in their own supply chains. Increasing demand for grass, silage and slurry as feedstocks could place upward pressure on land rental values and alter traditional agricultural practices. That underlines the importance of ensuring fair pricing mechanisms and maintaining the viability of livestock farming alongside biomethane development. In addition, while export opportunities for biomethane and associated certificates may increase revenues for larger operators, we must ensure that the primary objective remains strengthening local energy resilience and delivering value in the North's rural economy. For those reasons, a rural impact assessment is essential to understand how different regions, particularly west of the Bann, will be affected by changes in feedstock demand, infrastructure investment and market access. Alongside that, an equality impact assessment is necessary to ensure that policy design does not unintentionally favour larger corporate operators over smaller farms, community projects or rural enterprises and that opportunities are distributed fairly across scale and geography. Finally, we must also look at questions around long-term affordability and viability. Current evidence suggests a gap between production costs and proposed subsidy levels, which raises important considerations about how the sector will be supported sustainably without placing undue pressure on consumers or taxpayers. Those issues do not undermine the case for biomethane, but they reinforce the need for a careful, structured, stable and long-term support framework. Biomethane represents a genuine opportunity to deliver energy security, environmental responsibility and rural economic development. With the right policy frameworks, safeguards and impact assessments in place —.
We support the motion.
823 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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