A shipload of Brazilian wood chip is set to arrive in Foynes Port, Co Limerick this weekend, having travelled a distance of over 7,500km via the Canary Islands.
The 42,000 Dynagreen’s final destination is the Edenderry power plant in Offaly, owners of the plant, Bord na Móna confirmed when contacted by The Farmers Journal.
In a statement provided to the publication, the Irish company said that a combination of biomass materials were needed to produce the right fuel mix for power generation at the Edenderry power plant.
Bord na Móna told The Farmers Journal that it “sources the vast majority of sustainable residual material from indigenous suppliers in Ireland.” It said that international material is sourced when remaining biomass requirements cannot be acquired locally because of issues with volume and sustainability, The Farmers Journal reports.
Asked about the sustainability of shipping woodchip from Brazil to burn in Offaly, the company told The Farmers Journal in a statement: “Bord na Mona works with Preferred by Nature, an international non-profit organisation that supports better land management and business practises, to carry out on-the-ground audits on its behalf of international sites where biomass material is sourced.”
In August, Independent TD Carol Nolan sharply criticised Bord na Móna for acting “like a law unto itself” with regards to the environmental impact of certain projects. She said that “there is a palpable sense now among the community groups and the farmers that are coming to me that Bord na Móna is acting like a law unto itself,” said Deputy Nolan.
“This is particularly true with respect to both the rewetting proposals; the ongoing absence of written guarantees for farmers as well as the railroading of major projects like the construction of the companies’ unwanted and unloved wind farms that are destroying our bogs,” Deputy Nolan said.
She added that “this kind of lordly, feudal attitude to the land by a commercial semi-state simply cannot continue.”
“It is time for BNM to recognise that its actions are generating significant pushback among the very communities that it claims to value as ‘partners,’” the Rural TD said, adding: “This is not the way to treat people you say you respect.”
Bord na Móna also came under fire back in January of this year for transporting materials for burning at the midlands plant – as it was revealed that its Edenderry power plant had sourced peat and bogs 80km away, as well as wood materials from Brazil. The importation and burning of biomass at the plant drew outcry from An Taisce and Friends of the Irish Environment.
As reported by The Irish Times, one of the bogs which was supplying peat to the plant was located in Lanesborough, over 80km away; to take the shortest route, heavy goods vehicles transporting the fuel were, until December 2022, traversing a local primary road.
However, sparked by concern voiced by local residents, Longford County Council put in place a weight restriction on that route, meaning that lorries transporting peat had to take a circuitous route into Lanesborough.
“The transportation greatly impacted on our quality of life,” one local resident told the paper.
Ian Lumley, head of advocacy at An Taisce, said in January that: “This isn’t going to go away,” adding that: “Indigenous supplies being supplemented by imported biomass is undesirable in principle.
“This is trying to be virtuous in one country by seeking to have carbon neutral energy, but doing that at the expense of deforestation or causing damage in other countries, and should be stopped. It should be sourced indigenously without transporting it over long distances from other countries,” he said.
In April, there was renewed controversy when a Japanese registerd woodchip carrier arrived at the Limerick quayside, carrying woodchips from Brazil, to be transported to the Bord na Móna plant 180km away in Edenderry after a two-week voyage.
In a sustainability update published this September, Bord na Móna said it welcomed “more accountability in sustainability reporting and is taking steps to improve how we document our goals, actions and progress towards a sustainable future for all.”
The company said that its journey from ‘Brown to Green’ had been well- documented, “as we move away from our traditional fossil fuels business towards being a climate solutions company, helping Ireland reach net zero emissions by 2050.”
“Through this transition, Bord na Móna remains a company driven to make a return from our commercial activities,” the company said, adding: “However, these returns must be sustainable and accountable over the long term, so that we continue to consider the broader implications and impact of our actions.”
The company has said that its vision “is for a climate neutral Ireland by 2050” and has said it wants to “help create a brighter future where Ireland has reached net zero.”
“We each have a part to play in climate action,” it states on its website, telling readers:
“The world is at a critical point and the impacts of climate change will be felt by all. Every individual and organisation has a duty to take action to reduce carbon emissions and increase carbon sinks. Ireland has committed to transitioning to a climate neutral economy by 2050. This means removing the same amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere that we release.”
The Edenderry power plant secured planning permission in 2016 to burn peat along with biomass until the end of December 2023, when it has to switch completely to biomass.