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Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development
Inquiry into Renewable Energy and Alternative Land Use
Aim
"To establish the potential economic benefits Northern Ireland family farm and rural businesses could derive from renewable energy and alternative land uses relative to existing land use and agricultural practices, the potential agricultural and environmental effects of any such changes and to what degree renewables should become a focus of DARD resourcing relative to other agri-rural objectives."
Terms of Reference
- The recent and current policy framework for the development of renewable energy in Northern Ireland, focussing on but not limited to those policies developed and implemented by DARD;
- The range of renewable technologies currently in operation or planned in rural communities, taking into account, as appropriate, similar projects elsewhere
- The relative importance in terms of contributing to Governments renewable energy targets, of heat from renewable sources, electricity from renewable sources and fuel from renewable sources, and how relevant each could be to the NI economy
- The range of support available to renewable initiatives at local, national and European levels
- To compare the range of fiscal and other incentives offered elsewhere to support the development of a renewable energy industry and the infrastructure to support it
- The potential role of farm and rural businesses and rural communities in the delivery of a renewables programme which contributes to the sustainability of those business and the wider community
- The ways by which the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development could implement and resource a renewable energy programme in a manner which contributes to the sustainability of the agricultural/rural sector and contributes to Northern Ireland’s renewable energy targets
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