The government has been told to stop 'dismissing' biomethane as a solution to the energy crisis brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) said biomethane injection, a self-sufficient green alternative to other energy sources, had the potential to reduce heating bills and contribute to energy security.
Biomethane can be produced through different processes, one of which is on-farm anaerobic digestion (AD).
But the UFU said it was 'struggling to comprehend' why the government was continuing to overlook the green energy source as a solution.
The UK government is considering spending £37bn to tackle rising energy bills and increase fossil fuel production following predications that the average annual household energy bill could top £5,000 by next spring.
This extra expenditure is due to the ongoing war in Ukraine driving up the cost of oil and gas, creating growing concerns locally about energy security.
UFU rural enterprise chair, John Watt criticised the government for shunning "an alternative, green energy solution that is right under their nose – biomethane.”
“We’ve been very vocal over the past five years on the merits of biomethane and its many uses, including injection to the natural gas grid," he said.
"We identified how the green energy source acts as a direct substitute for conventional natural gas and when injected into the gas network, provides a potential heating source which ticks many boxes.
"Biomethane can be produced at scale and distributed thanks to the modern gas network here in NI."
The UFU's lobbying efforts have resulted in biomethane injection being mentioned in both the the Northern Irish government's Future Agriculture Policy and Energy Strategy.
But Mr Watt said policy makers in the government continued to "drag their heels in getting this over the line".
"We want to see an increased urgency supporting us to move forward with the production and distribution of this locally produced alternative heating fuel.
"[It] has the potential to reduce heating bills and contribute to energy security in these uncertain times."
