OFTEC IRELAND NEWS
Update: DAVID BLEVINGS, OFTEC IRELAND MANAGER, SAYS REPLACING HEATING OIL WITH RENEWABLE LIQUID FUELS, LIKE HVO, CAN OFFER AN IMMEDIATE 88% CARBON REDUCTION FOR OIL HEATED HOMES NOW AND RIGHT UP TO 2050....
REPORT PROVIDES REASSURANCE THAT USING HVO TO DE-CARBONISE OFF-GRID HOMES WILL NOT BE HINDERED BY FEEDSTOCK AVAILABILITY…
No supply barriers to HVO adoption – study finds
A s we continue to lobby both governments for the inclusion of biofuels in future energy strategies, one of the questions often asked is, “Is there enough of this renewable fuel to de-carbonise off-grid homes?” Our colleagues in the UK and Ireland, Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA), has published the findings from its study, which demonstrates there is more than enough feedstock, while they estimate conservatively that around 50% of homes could be converted to use biofuels by 2030. According to the study, “The UK domestic heating oil market can easily be accommodated within the overall requirement for renewable liquid fuels. There is more than enough projected feedstock availability to meet renewable liquid fuel consumption requirements in Europe and North America. “The UK heating oil replacement requirement would be between 0.4% and 0.5% of renewable liquid fuel production in Europe and North America. Europe has potential feedstock availability to produce between 64 and 105 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mTOE) of renewable liquid fuels per annum by 2030. European biofuels consumption is expected to be between 19 and 26 mTOE per annum by 2030, meaning projected renewable liquid fuels yield would exceed demand by between 243- 560%.”
The report acknowledges that some of the technologies covered in the study require further development however, the rapid growth in the Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) market provides grounds for optimism. HVO – which offers an immediate c.88% reduction in carbon emissions – is the biofuel being promoted by a number of bodies including OFTEC as the replacement for kerosene. The report states that HVO production from 2013 to 2020 increased from 2.2m metric tonnes to 6.2m and forecasts European production of HVO to increase to 11.30m tonnes by 2025 and in the USA to 12.6m tonnes. The liquid fuel sector has always stated that the overarching objective of any energy policy should be to ensure that the right system is put into the right home. The key focus to 2030 should be ensuring that certain low- regret pathways remain open, while focusing on removing the most carbon intensive sources of heating. We believe we can do that without serious cost implications for liquid fuel users by replacing heating oil with renewable liquid fuels, such as HVO. This report provides the reassurance needed by Governments that the approach to use HVO to de-carbonise offgrid homes will not be encumbered by feedstock availability. The next step should be to discuss pricing
David Blevings, OFTEC Ireland Manager.
mechanisms of renewable liquid fuels with NI and ROI governments to bring their use in line with transport and aviation. The infrastructure offering ‘tickets’ for road transport is already in place and needs to incorporate renewable fuels used for home heating.
TRAINING OFTEC already offers courses to ensure
technicians are fully trained in adapting boilers to use renewable liquid fuels as well as heat pump technology for new and thermally efficient homes.
David Blevings, OFTEC Ireland Manager on T: +44 (0)28 9186 2916 Sean McBride, Ireland Representative on T: +44 (0)7540 502 304 (NI) or +353 (0)87 241 7041 (RoI) www.oftec.org
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