The demand for wood for energy production in Ireland is predicted to double from 1.5 millionm3 over bark (OB) in 2011 to 3 millionm3 OB by 2020. There is a large potential for additional biomass recovery for energetic purposes from both thinning forest stands and by harvesting of tops and...

The Republic of Ireland, like many other countries is trying to diversify energy sources to counteract environmental, political and social concerns. Bioethanol from domestically grown agricultural crops is an indigenously produced alternative fuel that can potentially go towards meeting the goal...

The Irish government has undertaken to reduce national CO2 emissions through a range of measures put out in their Biomass Action Plan and the National Renewable Energy Action Plan. The conversion of peat fired power plants to co-fire with renewable biomass is one of these. This paper considers...

Two cable logging systems were reviewed to compare the efficiency of potential biomass extraction from remote forest sites in Ireland based on productive machine hour (PMH) and unit cost of operation (€/m³). Three operational scenarios (SC) were analysed where SC I was a three man crew...

Under the Biofuels Obligation Scheme in Ireland, the biofuels penetration rate target for 2013 was set at 6% by volume from a previous 4% from 2010. In 2012 the fuel blend reached 3%, with approximately 70 million L of biodiesel and 56 million L of ethanol blended with diesel and gasoline,...