Ger Devlin

Irish Biofuels Production Ltd

IEA Bioenergy Task 43 report, TR2018-05, http://task43.ieabioenergy.com/publications/lignocellulosic-crops-in-agricultural-landscapes/.

This report summarises a project that analysed options for integrating lignocellulosic crops in the agricultural landscape, to provide biomass feedstock while at the same time providing additional ecosystem services. This was done by analysing several concrete cases of relevant lignocellulosic cropping systems. Each case was evaluated on context, d...

This study provides an overview of most efficient biomass harvesting technologies and supply chains applied in North America, Europe and Southern Hemisphere. The productivity and cost of selected efficient technologies have been presented for each country with a brief description about source of the biomass and working method. Expert’s opinions on...

This study provides a state-of-the art overview of forest biomass harvesting technologies and supply chains used in North America, Europe and the Southern Hemisphere. The productivity and cost of selected efficient technologies is presented for each country with a brief description about the source of the biomass and harvesting method. Expert opini...

The level of mobilisation of forest biomass supply chains varies widely among countries of the boreal and temperate biomes; it depends on the ability of forest biomass to be harvested, collected, processed and delivered to end-users and markets in a manner that is competitive with other energy sources, notably fossil fuels. Within each country, the...

The energy sector is the major contributor to GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) in Ireland. Under EU Renewable energy targets, Ireland must achieve contributions of 40%, 12% and 10% from renewables to electricity, heat and transport respectively by 2020, in addition to a 20% reduction in GHG emissions. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to car...

Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy and Biorefining highlights the emergence of energy generation through the use of biomass and the ways it is becoming more widely used. The supply chains that produce the feedstocks, harvest, transport, store, and prepare them for combustion or refinement into other forms of fuel are long and complex, often differ...

Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy and Biorefining Energy generation through the use of biomass is becoming more widely used. The supply chains which produce the feedstocks, harvest, transport and store them, and prepare them for combustion or refinement into other forms of fuel are long and complex. They also differ from feedstock to feedstock....

In Ireland in 2009, biofuels were mostly imported rather than produced indigenously. Transport is the fastest growing sector in Ireland, in terms of primary energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions. The transport sector is entirely depended on oil imports. Policy implementations and mechanisms are necessary in the transport sector if Ireland is t...

Energies - Special Issue - Economics of Bioenergy 2015 (ISSN 1996-1073) http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/8/10/12004/html

Strategic Inter-Task Study commissioned by IEA Bioenergy. Carried out with co-operation between IEA Bioenergy Tasks 37, 38, 39, 40, 42 and 43. ISBN ISBN 978-1-910154-19-9 (printed paper edition). ISBN ISBN 978-1-910154-20-5 (eBook electronic version).

The combustion of peat for energy generation accounts for approximately 4.1% of Ireland's overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with current levels of combustion resulting in the emission of 2.8 Mt of CO2 per annum. The aim of this research is to evaluate the life cycle environmental impacts of peat use for energy generation in Ireland, from peat...

In Ireland, timber and biomass haulage faces the challenge of transporting enough material within strict legal dimensions and gross vehicle weights restrictions for trucks and trailers. The objective of this study was to develop a method to control payload weight by knowing the moisture content of the wood. Weights, volumes, and moisture content we...

The timber industry in Ireland is an important producer of wood products for export and indigenous use, and supplies significant volumes of sawmill co-products as biomass for energy generation. This research expands existing knowledge on the environmental impacts of wood supply chains in Ireland by widening the analysis to incorporate the wood proc...

In the coming years, Ireland will continue to face an increasing demand for wood biomass as a renewable source of energy. This will result in strained supply/demand scenarios, which will call for new planning and logistics systems capable of optimizing the efficient use of the biomass resources. In this study, a linear programming tool was develope...

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 operation (choker setter, the carriage operator and unhooking c...

The purpose of this study was to analyse how biomass based haulage in Ireland performed as a measure of efficiency under 4 main criteria; distance travelled, fuel consumption, fuel consumption per unit of biomass hauled and diesel CO2 emissions. The applicability of truck engine diagnostic equipment was tested to analyse the schedule of engine data...

The biofuels penetration rate target in Ireland for 2013 is 6% by volume. In 2012 the fuel blend reached 3%, with approximately 70 million litres of biodiesel and 56 million litres of ethanol blended with diesel and gasoline respectively. For January and February 2013, the blend rate had only reached 2.7%. The target of 10% by 2020 remains which eq...

Ireland's transport sector consumes just slightly less than one third of all energy in Ireland and is heavily dependent on oil imports, especially diesel. The European Union has set targets that are to be met by 2020, in order to guarantee a sustainable future for Europe and assure security of energy supply. There is an increase of biofuel usage in...

The demand for wood for energy production in Ireland is predicted to double from 1.5 million m3 over bark (OB) in 2011 to 3 million m3 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 branches, and stumps. This study builds on research within...

Free download from: http://elsarticle.com/18AHupA 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 how t...

Advice on resolving timber transport issues for local authorities, timber haulage companies and forest owners in Ireland.

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, respectively. Up to and including April 2013, the current b...

Willow Salix sp. is currently cultivated as a short rotation forestry crop in Ireland as a source of biomass to contribute to renewable energy goals. The aim of this study is to evaluate the energy requirements and environmental impacts associated with willow (Salix sp.) cultivation, harvest, and transport using life cycle assessment (LCA). In this...

The fast pyrolysis of Spruce (Picea abies), short rotation willow coppice (Salix alba), Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), and wheat straw (Triticum aestivum) was compared on a laboratory scale bubbling fluidized bed reactor at 460-475 °C. The presence of ash, ranging from 0.26 wt. % for spruce to 3.76 wt. % for wheat straw (moisture free basis)...

The production of synthetic fuels from alternative sources has increased in recent years as a cleaner, more sustainable source of transport fuel is now required. The European Commission has outlined renewable energy targets pertaining to transport fuel which must be met by 2020. In response to these targets Ireland has committed, through the Biofue...

The environmental impact of bioenergy supply systems can be determined using life cycle assessment methodologies. This study focuses on the impact of production of Miscanthus pellets and briquettes, potentially used to satisfy renewable energy requirements in Ireland. The impact categories considered are particularly important when assessing bioene...

This report was written by a group of researchers at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA), with input from colleagues at the University of Toronto and the University of Copenhagen. It was written as part of ongoing work with IEA Bioenergy Task 43 to improve all aspects of the bioenergy supply chain. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - The authors would li...

This research details the characterisation of four Irish-grown lignocellulosic biomasses for pyrolysis by biomass composition analysis, TGA, and Py-GC/MS-FID. Ash content (mf) increased in the order spruce (0.26wt.%)<salix (1.16wt.%)<miscanthus (3.43wt.%)<wheat straw (3.76wt.%). Analysis of hydrolysis-derived sugar monomers showed that xylose conce...

Logistics is a fundamental component of the post-harvest processes, especially in the floricultural sector where the products have to be marketed in short times after the cutting because of their fragility. In the previous years, new approaches to efficiently manage the logistical function and to reduce costs and environmental impacts have been con...

The production of synthetic fuels from alternative sources has increased in recent years as a cleaner, more sustainable source of transport fuel is now required. In response to European renewable energy targets, Ireland has committed, through the Biofuels Obligation Scheme of 2008, to producing 4% of transport fuels from biofuels by 2010 and 10% by...

We have a pleasure of presenting you with this explanatory dictionary-glossary of inforest biomass processing related terminology. The explained terms are divided into fi ve categories as follows: description of stand and raw material, logging, processing, haulage and units. In each of these fi elds, the terms are presented in alphabetical order. W...

Robust alternative technology choices are required in the paradigm shift from the current crude oil-reliant transport fuel platform to a sustainable, more flexible transport infrastructure. In this vein, fast pyrolysis of biomass and upgrading of the product is deemed to have potential as a technology solution. The objective of this review is to pr...

Photovoltaic power generation is one of the cleanest sources for producing renewable energy, however to date its up take on the Irish renewable energy market has been extremely low. Through research carried out on regions where these technologies are widely used and developed, this project investigates the feasibility of using photovoltaic systems...

With generation of waste plastics increasing, current EU legislation dictates high recovery rates and policy favours waste management technology choices that occupy a high position on the waste management hierarchy. Pyrolysis is a thermochemical conversion technology that can be considered a ‘feedstock recycling’ process and may play an increasing...

A set of tools are described for optimal allocation of wood fibre at an operational planning level. These were applied to a case study in Ireland. Allocation was based on optimising net value recovery (delivered price minus harvesting and transportation costs) while meeting market demands and operational constraints (mainly crew capability and prod...

The introduction of Information Technology (IT) into the Irish Forestry sector is becoming ever increasing. During the Gudrun hurricane in Sweden in January 2005, thousands of cubic metres of timber were clearfelled by the ferocity of the storm. Irish timber harvesters and hauliers travelled to Sweden to aid in the recovery effort. The Irish worker...

An economic analysis of a non-woody biomass pelleting process was performed for conditions in the Republic of Ireland. The analysis considered the establishment, harvest, storage and drying costs of the feedstock's on-farm, together with transportation costs to the processing plant and the costs associated with the pelleting process. Capital and op...

http://www.intechopen.com/books/decision-support-systems-advances-in

The threat of increasing fuel prices and climate change necessitates the need for clean, renewable and independent energy sources. A GIS (Geographical Information Systems) model was developed using ArcGIS 9.2 to analyze the availability of non-woody biomass (wheat, oat, barley and rape straw, willow and miscanthus) for pellet production in Ireland....

This Coford Connect Note evaluates the technology available for on-board diagnostic recordings within the Irish Truck Transport Sector (ITTS). The analysis was carried out on fuel consumption of two trucks working in the timber and general haulage sectors. By identifying the appropriate best available technology, it is hoped that the results of suc...

This paper investigates, using the GIS platform, the potential impacts of meeting national bioenergy targets using only indigenous sources of feedstock on the habitats and carbon stores that exist within Ireland’s field boundaries. A survey of the Republic of Irelands field was conducted in order to estimate and map the size and geographic distribu...

An economic assessment was conducted on five biomass-to-ethanol production pathways utilising the feedstock: wheat, triticale, sugarbeet, miscanthus and straw. The analysis includes the costs and margins for all the stakeholders along the economic chain. This analysis reveals that under current market situations in Ireland, the production of ethano...

This paper discusses the background to real-time GPS asset tracking in the context of 1) monitoring moving vehicles, 2) the content of the GPS data that is provided as part of the 2 systems that were tested, 3) the theory behind the installation of such tracking systems in terms of GPS, GPRS and internet communications and finally, 4) the assessmen...

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 of diversified energy supply. The Republic of Ireland...

This book develops a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) integrated with the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS) to quantify the non – differential GPS (non-DGPS) dynamic positional accuracy of articulated trucks travelling on the Irish public road network. The system developed enables the GIS si...

Due to increasing fuel prices, the treat posed by climate change and the need for independency of energy supply from fossil fuels necessitates the need for a clean, renewable and independent energy source. Biomass is the most common form of renewable energy and offers great potential for the production of solid and liquid biofuels.

Miscanthus, straw and willow from short rotation coppice are promising biofuels for Ireland. However there is relatively little experience with their gasification. This work aims at optimizing and identifying the limits of their gasification in an atmospheric air blown, bubbling fluidized bed gasifier. The technical feasibility of co-gasification w...

The GPSTRACK project has arisen as a result of a recom-mendation in the Forest Industry Transport Group (FITG) Code of Practice for Timber Haulage, which was to "Encourage closer co-operation between consignors and hauliers to plan routes in a manner which optimizes the economic returns within a legal framework." The project involved the installati...

Since the 1970s, decision support systems (DSS) have become popular as computer technology has developed. A DSS aims to support the solving of specific problems with both human and computer techniques. The purpose of this research was to design and develop a DSS for application to cost and revenue calculations of contracted timber haulage in Irelan...

Since the late 1980s, GIS (geographical information systems) have evolved to fully enable the range of capabilities needed in transportation routing, research and management. The objective of this paper was to analyse the designation of articulated haulage routes from one central depot to various destinations around the country of Ireland in terms...

A research project – GPSTRACK – is providing the forest transport sector with new technologies to monitor vehicle movements across the Irish road network and beyond. The project has arisen as a result of a recommendation from the Forest Industry Transport Group to encourage closer co-operation between consignors and hauliers, to plan routes in an e...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the positional accuracy of dynamic non-differential global positioning system (Non DGPS) for tracking articulated trucks across the Irish road network. The study was carried out using a Trimble GeoXT handheld GPS unit in the non-differential mode. The data was logged through Environmental Systems Research I...

The purpose of this study was to measure and evaluate the dynamic non-differential positional accuracy of two global positioning systems (GPS) receivers. The two receivers used were the Trimble GeoXT handheld and the Garmin GPSMAP 76. Both units are single-frequency, twelve-channel GPS receivers. The units were tested for horizontal root mean squar...

Economically extractable fossil fuel reserves have been sufficient for more than a century of increasing demands for fuel energy. Given the technological progress, potential reserves, and increased exploitation of newer unconventional reserves (e.g. natural gas), it is highly probable that fossil fuels will continue to be available at low cost for...