Debate contribution: Energy, Food and Environmental Security: Biomethane

Debate contribution by Mr David Honeyford on 20 April 2026.

MLA

Mr David Honeyford

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

20 April 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Energy, Food and Environmental Security: Biomethane

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5494152

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I cannot believe that I am going to say this: I agree with a lot of what Phillip said, and I commend the motion. I talk a lot in here about energy, and we need to produce more of our own and transition to renewable. Energy costs, as Robbie said, are spiking because of war, and we have to protect people. Biomethane must be part of that wider transition. It has the potential to be part of the jigsaw, but it is, a Phillip said, just one part of a much wider energy transition. We have to proceed carefully, as has been said, and do this right, and it must be evidence-based. There is no reason, however, why we cannot strengthen our energy security through AD and support businesses in meeting decarbonisation and sustainable targets as well as creating economic opportunities in rural communities and helping to deliver real environmental benefits. However, it has to be properly regulated, managed and scaled, because environmental protection has to be fundamental as well. Minister Muir has already taken forward a plan-led approach to that. We have seen investment of £12·5 million in biomethane and wider bioeconomy innovation, and I put on record my thanks to him for that. Yes, we have the resource: the slurry, food waste and organic material that have been mentioned. I agree with the motion that there is the potential for every unit of biomethane that we produce to displace natural gas that we do not then have to import. We need to act in the long-term interests of people.

Yes, go for it.

I will come to that in a wee second, because biomethane is part of the solution, as is hydrogen. I sit on a Committee of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) that has looked at their use. There is therefore a wider work piece of work to be done on each individually. I will talk about something that was raised earlier. I want to manage expectations, because we need to be honest with people. Biomethane carries a much higher cost than natural gas — the cost today is approximately five times as much — and we cannot ignore that reality. The case for expanding its use must therefore rest on long-term reasons for its use. Those reasons are energy security and the importance of moving away from our dependency on fossil fuels, but we must invest in research and development, because if we look at the potential of all renewables, we see that costs are being driven down over time. That can happen. There is a place for biomethane, and we have to look at its potential, but we have to be honest with people rather than oversimplify things. This morning, I watched the social media clip to promote the motion. I have heard many energy experts talk about biogas at the Committee for the Economy, and I sit on the BIPA Committee on Climate, Energy, Science and Technology, but I have never heard anybody explain why it should be how we power our power stations for electricity generation. The reason for that is simple. Through the UK and Europe, we are part of the marginal pricing arrangement for energy generation. Our electricity generators are brought online in order, from the cheapest to the most expensive. The last, most expensive generator sets the pricing for all electricity on the grid. Using biogas would therefore dramatically increase everyone's bills. I have never heard anybody explain why, in the short term or the long term, we should do that. Developing biogas to displace gas on the grid is where we need to focus to be part of the wider energy transition, but, at this stage —.

Very quickly, Robbie, yes.

I absolutely agree, but it should not be used to supply our power stations. The clip that came out this morning was about its being used for electricity generation, which would put our prices through the roof. The motion does not talk about this, but we need North/South collaboration. We cannot do it in isolation. Coca-Cola in my constituency trucks biogas, some of which comes from Donegal, and there is no legislative framework to enable it to be connected and to count towards net zero targets. We therefore need to take an all-island approach to developing biomethane policy and infrastructure that supports injection to the grid, be it North or South, and interconnection with Donegal. That is a practical thing that the Assembly can do. Phillip said that we need a master plan from the Department that gives us a plan-led approach to energy on the widest scale that sits alongside that all-island collaboration. I talk about that all the time, and it winds me up that we do not have one. We have an opportunity to decarbonise in order to protect people from price shocks. We have to move towards using renewables. Biomethane is absolutely part of that, but we have to invest in research and development on biomethane alongside doing work on hydrogen, as was mentioned. Hydrogen is used for trucks and trains in particular. We need to look at solutions and start delivering for people.

860 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 15:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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