The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
WAR and spiralling costs have put the focus firmly on our dependence on fossil fuels and accelerated the pace of the hunt for alternatives. In East Clare, a pilot project looking at the potential of ‘biomass’ is nearing a conclusion and exciting results are set to boost the case for the use of organic matter, like rushes, as fuel and fertiliser. The Biomass to Biochar project, headquartered close to Mountshannon, is a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine (DAFM) under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. It has been investigating the treatment of biomass created from rushes to turn it into what is called ‘biochar’. a charcoal-like substance which can work as a fertiliser. Briquets for domestic use have also been developed. Farmers are paid to supply rushes and can qualify for carbon credits. Not only that, but the urgency of investing in carbon removal, in the interests of the climate change, has …
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