Bord na Móna has said the industrial scale exploitation of Ireland’s bogs will have ended in 15 years, with the peat briquette, that much-loved favourite of Irish households, biting the dust.
The company plans to transform itself into an alternative energy company, centred on biomass, wind and solar power. Peat briquettes, a popular winter fuel in many homes, will be replaced by biomass briquettes.
Describing its plans as “the biggest change of use involving Irish land in modern history”, the 83-year-old semi-State company will open a new wind farm every year for the next seven years, according to its new chief executive Mike Quinn. Co-located with many such farms will be solar energy farms.