NEWS

Kilns an alternative to large incinerators
By Steven Moore

ON-farm kilms capable of not only dealing with poultry waste but earning farmers money could provide an alternative to Rose Energy's large scale incinerator plan for Glenavy, it has been claimed.
A delegation from the Communities Against Lough Neagh Incinerator (CALNI) argued that emerging technologies presented fresh opportunities to solve the dilemma of disposing of the chicken litter.
Addressing the Stormont Agriculture Committee, CALNI president Danny Moore asked MLAs to push DARD to instigate trials of possible alternatives before a final decision was taken.
The former dairy farmer, who said some 80 per cent of his group consisted of people from a farming background, said the group acknowledged that EU regulations made finding a solution for the disposal of the litter an urgent necessity.
However, he argued that such were the environmental issues involved in the Rose Energy proposal that even if Environmental Minister Edwin Poots gave the go-ahead the case would inevitably end up before the European court - adding further years to the deliberations.
Mr Moore, who was prevented by DUP committee chairman Ian Paisley Jnr from going into the planning issues on the grounds that it was not part of the DARD committee's remit, said the proposed site was in an Area of High Scenic Value with other locations, including at Ballymena and Kilroot, were more appropriate.
The group president also pointed out that Randox, which has threatened to move its business to Donegal should the Rose Energy project get the go-ahead, had a flock of 1,200 sheep in the Glenavy/Crumlin area that were integral to its business.
He told the committee that during recent meetings with DARD officials it had been conceded that potential alternatives to a centralised incinerator existed - but that the department did not have the money to carry out pilot trials.
However, several committee members, including the chairman, questioned this as in October the department had advised the committee that the Rose Energy proposal was the only solution that met the needs of the industry and had commercial merit.
The DUP's William McCrea asked why, if it had changed its stance, the department had not been back to the committee to update it.
Mr Moore specifically detailed the incinerators manufactured by Limerick-based Biomass Solutions Ltd, which he said was already operating in the Republic with a number of farmers employing it.
This on-farm system added five-seven cents to the value of each bird as it utilised the gas generated by the burning of the chicken litter to heat the home, produced electricity that could be sold to the national grid.
The 70,000 tonnes of chaf potentially left in the burners was "non-hazardous" and could be used in fertiliser, he said.
These kilns could be purchased by individuals or shared by farmer "clusters" as there were mobile versions that removed the need for planning applications though they would still require the appropriate licences to operate.
Mr Moore said the company had already met with DARD and InvestNI officials to discuss the potential of its equipment meeting the needs of the industry though was keen, at this stage, not to present itself as a rival with Rose Energy backers Moy Park and O'Kanes.
He said members of the group had visited the company and some of the farmers using its incinerators, as had a number of other concerns including the largest US poultry producers and even Moy Park and O'Kanes.


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