BORD NA MÓNA is planning to develop a new renewable gas project that will use food waste and animal waste to create renewable gas.

The company announced the plan as it launched its annual report this week. The project will be developed in Portlaoise, Co Laois.

The proposed development could treat up to 80,000 tonnes of non-hazardous, biodegradable, organic materials each year, including a combination of commercial food waste, brown bin waste, animal slurries and purpose grown crops.

Bord na Móna proposes to use Anaerobic Digestion to convert the organic materials into biogas. This process involves a series of processes to break down biodegraeable material in an oxygen-free environment.

This gas will be injected into the national grid for supply through the existing gas network to homes and commercial businesses and is intended to provide gas equivalent to the heating of 5,500 homes.

Bord na Móna said the proposed project “will bring significant environmental benefits through the sustainable treatment and conversion of non-hazardous, biodegradable, organic waste materials into a renewable biogas”.

It said the process will also produce a nutrient rich by-product (bio-fertiliser) which will be suitable for land spreading on agricultural land and will be a sustainable alternative to traditional artificial fertilisers.

“The proposed project represents another contribution by Bord na Móna to achieving Ireland’s renewable energy targets and will assist in the reduction of carbon emissions from sectors such as agriculture, heating and transport,” the company said.