Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Edwin Poots MLA and Economy Minister Gordon Lyons MLA have visited Granville EcoPark Ltd in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, to see the company’s latest advancements with regard to green technology. During a tour of the site, the Ministers were shown the company’s anaerobic digestion (AD) plant and heard about their plans to support the agri-food sector, whilst contributing to the circular economy; as well as their plans to meet Net Zero targets.
“It has been great to visit a company like Granville EcoPark and see the work that they are doing in turning waste products into a clean and renewable energy source,” commented Minister Poots. “This is a terrific example of Green Growth in action, as it is not only helping us to move from a high to a low emissions society, it is also improving people’s quality of life through a cleaner environment, as well as creating green jobs for the local community.
“Granville EcoPark presents a great opportunity to harness Anaerobic Digestion technology to deal with challenges within the Agri-Food sector. It is an impressive example of how this type of technology can support a Circular Economy,” said Minister Lyons. “In addition, my Department in co-operation with the Utility Regulator, has commissioned research into the biomethane resource in Northern Ireland and in relation to the economics of biomethane. This will help inform how the production of biomethane and future market arrangements can help deliver the decarbonization of heat and support renewable electricity generation, and the decarbonization of transport.”
“It was a privilege to show the Ministers around our facility and showcase how we have optimized our processes to get the most out of the available resources as we do our part to help decarbonize the Northern Ireland economy,” said Chief Technical Officer of Granville EcoPark Ltd and BioCapital Ltd, Dr David McKee. “Our renewable gas is currently transported to client facilities using state of the art gas-powered lorries and Granville is on track to be the first Anaerobic Digestion facility to connect to the local natural gas network. Once grid injection is available, locally produced, renewable gases will be available to local consumers and help accelerate Northern Ireland’s journey towards net zero carbon.”
“Anaerobic digestion has a multitude of environmental benefits as it helps decarbonize agri-foods, waste, transport, and manufacturing with the added benefit of having saleable by-products,” he added. “At present our Granville facility produces enough gas to supply Dungannon town, so we look forward to being able to introduce that renewable product directly into the local gas network later this year.”
Source: UK Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
