EU support for energy crops and a market for the electricity produced from them were necessary to encourage farmers to produce renewable energy, a conference was told yesterday. According to Dr Keith Pitcher, chief executive of ARBRE Energy in Britain, action is required to meet EU targets for renewable energy production.

"Rather than put support mechanisms only into food, they would want to put some into sustainable agriculture, so energy crops are a good opportunity," he told delegates at the FBD Trust Farmers in Bioenergy conference.

Land set aside under the EU scheme could be used for biomass production, but there is as yet no EU support for biomass. Farmers getting involved would have to make a 20-year-plus commitment to energy crops. Britain was providing grants of £1,000 sterling (€1,600) per hectare for arable land and £1,600 for grassland planted with short rotation coppice.

Biomass is a more expensive way of producing energy than wind or hydro because incineration is involved, Dr Pitcher said. Therefore, it has to pay for the fuel involved. Costs would have to become more competitive against other renewable energy sources and private investment would have to be attracted by the sector.