Overview of Bord na Móna Renewable Energy Projects
Peatlands
Littleton Bog and Wind Farm
Native woodland and wind farm development on cutaway peatlands
Coillte Nature and Bord na Móna are working together on an area of 338 hectares at the Littleton Bog Complex on the border of Co. Kilkenny and Co. Tipperary
Littleton Bog Complex, which is located 3 km east of Urlingford on the Tipperary/Kilkenny border.
Up until 2017, the majority of Bawnmore was managed for industrial milled peat production and was dominated by bare peat and recolonising vegetation.
In 2017, Bord na Móna announced the closure of the Littleton Briquette factory and the cessation of industrial peat production in several cutaway bogs within the Littleton Bog Group, including Bawnmore
Midlands Native Woodland
Bord na Móna is proposing to develop a wind farm on Littleton Bog located in County Tipperary.
This Bog Group is close to the communities of Gortnahoe, Littleton, New Birmingham, Twomileborris and Urlingford.
The Project
Click to access Littleton-Wind-Farm-Project-Information-Booklet.pdf
Siltation
Currently in Ireland there are extremely high siltation levels which are a cause for concern in respect to ecological habitats and fish spawning grounds as well as being sinks for phosphorous and other contaminants.
Based on evidence from the EPA and LAWPRO, poor practice in the drainage of rivers and land drainage have been identified as causing widespread environmental impacts.
The main sources of silt include
- poor agricultural practices (e.g. drainage, lack of buffers etc.),
- poor practices in channel maintenance,
- poorly managed operations in legacy forests and
- peat extraction / wind farms / quarrying
Suggested source control measures, such as catch crops and appropriate riparian margins, along with the development of land management plans.
Additional measures include planting of more trees, stopping access of cows and sheep into waterways and an increased protection of existing flood plains
Measures to tackle other significant issues will also deal with the issue of siltation.
Forestry and siltation
Site disturbing operations such as cultivation, road building and harvesting when combined with heavy rainfall pose a high risk of silt runoff into waterways. Great care is therefore required in carrying out these operations to ensure that the measures in the Forests and Water Guidelines are followed. Silt has the effect of smothering streambeds and decreasing oxygen levels in the water which can greatly affect the fish and micro invertebrate life and even change the structure of the physical habitat.
Further information of forests and siltation can be accessed at:
SILTFLUX Literature Review – Environmental Protection Agency
Bord na Mona: list of bogs for restoration
Bord na Mona (Locations Map)
Bord na Móna operates approx thirty sites across 80,000 hectare land bank. Location map is here:
http://www.bordnamona.ie/who-we-are/locations/
BnM are rehabilitating huge areas of degraded bogs, but there are reports that some bogs are still being drained, e.g. for wind farm construction.
Example:
#nationalbiodiversityweek2021 and an example of how the bogs are being #rehabilitated here by pumping the water off them as fast and as hard as possible, driving out wildlife, removing habitats and continued carbon loss. #biodiversityIreland pic.twitter.com/wZY9cvGPfd
— Mid Shannon wilderness Park – Awareness Group (@MidShannon) May 19, 2021
FOI submitted on current bog drainage operations at BnM, to establish if pumping into watercourses remains ongoing
Optimising Water Quality Returns from Peatland Management while Delivering Co-Benefits for Climate and Biodiversity
The report provides guidance on how peatlands management can be reimagined in order to optimise water quality improvements while delivering co-benefits for climate mitigation and biodiversity.
It covers topics including:
- Rewetting peatlands,
- Carbon cycling in intact, degraded and rewetted peatlands,
- Cultural ecosystem services and social values of peatlands,
- Alternative management options for degraded peatlands,
- Strategic guidance and resources for integrated peatlands management.
Significant Pressures: Peat Extraction
Peat extraction for commercial or domestic purposes, and modification or drainage of peatlands for other uses such as forestry or agriculture, has been identified as a significant pressure in 119 (8%) water bodies that are At Risk of not meeting their water quality objectives.
This is the sixth most prevalent significant pressure type in river water bodies.
Why are we losing Blue Dots?
Generally Blue Dot waters tend to be in the upper section of river catchments. For this reason, they are affected by some land use activities more than others. In addition to this Blue Dot waters are more commonly found along the Western seaboard and in mountainous areas e.g. Wicklow and Slieve Bloom Mountains. The dominant land uses in these areas are Forestry, Agriculture and Peat extraction and low density one off housing.
The profile of pressures that impact on our Blue Dots is slightly different to the pressures impacting on our Good Status water bodies. While agriculture is the most significant pressure on our good status waters, forestry is the most significant pressure on our Blue Dot waters. Forestry is a pressure on 51 (40%) of our Blue Dot waters, followed by hydromorphology in 43 (34%) water bodies, agriculture in 35 (28%) water bodies, peat extraction or disturbances in 16 (13%) water bodies and domestic waste-water in 13 (10%).
Activities that impact on our Blue Dot waterbodies in order the number of waters that are affected:
- Forestry
- Hydromorphology
- Agriculture
- Peat
- Other
- Domestic WWTP
- Urban WWTP
- Industry
- Mines and Quarries