Anaerobic digestion (AD) has been recognised as an effective means of simultaneously producing energy while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Despite having a large agriculture sector, Ireland has experienced little uptake of the technology, ranking 20th within the EU-28. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the general opinions, willingness to adopt, and perceived obstacles of potential adopters of the technology. As likely primary users of this technology, a survey of Irish cattle farmers was conducted to assess the potential of on-farm AD for energy production in Ireland. The study seeks to understand farmers’ motivations, perceived barriers, and preferred business model. The study found that approximately 41% of the 91 respondents were interested in installing AD on their farming enterprise within the next five years. These Likely Adopters tended to have a higher level of education attainment, and together, currently hold 4379 cattle, potentially providing 37,122 t year⁻¹ of wastes as feedstock, resulting in a potential CO₂ reduction of 800.65 t CO₂-eq. year⁻¹. Moreover, the results indicated that the primary consideration preventing the implementation of AD is a lack of information regarding the technology and high investment costs. Of the Likely Adopters and Possible Adopters, a self-owned and operated plant was the preferred ownership structure, while 58% expressed an interest in joining a co-operative scheme. The findings generated provide valuable insights into the willingness of farmers to implement AD and guidance for its potential widespread adoption.

中文翻译：

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爱尔兰农场采用厌氧消化生产能源的潜在调查

厌氧消化（AD）已被认为是在减少温室气体（GHG）排放的同时产生能量的有效手段。尽管拥有庞大的农业部门，爱尔兰却很少吸收该技术，在欧盟28国中排名第20位。因此，有必要了解潜在的技术采用者的一般意见，采用的意愿以及所遇到的障碍。作为该技术的主要用户，对爱尔兰的养牛场进行了一项调查，以评估农场AD在爱尔兰生产能源的潜力。该研究旨在了解农民的动机，感知的障碍和偏好的商业模式。该研究发现，在91位受访者中，大约41％的人希望在未来五年内在其农业企业中安装AD。^-1作为原料的废物，导致潜在的CO ₂减少800.65 t CO ₂当量。年^-1。此外，结果表明，阻止实施AD的主要考虑因素是缺乏有关技术的信息和高昂的投资成本。在“可能采用者”和“可能采用者”中，自有和运营的工厂是首选的所有权结构，而58％的企业表示有兴趣加入合作计划。产生的发现为农民实施AD的意愿提供了宝贵的见解，并为潜在的广泛采用提供了指导。