OFTEC IRELAND NEWS
Update:
PLUMBING & HEATING MAGAZINE PROVIDES AN INSIGHT INTO OFTEC IRELAND AND THE PROMOTION OF THE LIQUID FUEL INDUSTRY IN IRELAND…
L-R: Kevin McPartlan (Fuels for Ireland), David Blevings (OFTEC) and Nick Hayes (UKIFDA) outside Dáil Éireann.
AS NI AND ROI AIM TO MEET NET-ZERO TARGETS, THE RECOGNITION OF BIOFUELS AS A VIABLE HEATING SOURCE GAINS TRACTION AND SUPPORT… Biofuels gain momentum as heating solution for island of Ireland
I n Northern Ireland we have seen the Department for Economy issue an update on the Department for Energy’s 2022 ‘actions’ in March 2023. Since the Energy Strategy was published, we have a Climate Change Act passing into law last Spring and NI now has ambi- tious plans to meet its Net Zero targets by 2050. We need to focus on solutions and, at a recent meeting with DfE, they advised that they are ‘agnostic’ to overall solutions and are open to considering multiple pathways to addressing the issue and that we will
ultimately be driven by an evidence base. This is good news and instead of ‘no carbon’, they now talk about ‘low and no carbon’ options. OFTEC believes that there is no one solution for decarbonising heating and there will be a variety of options. Of course, these options and pathways must be reasonable and sustainable. We look forward to working with DfE as part of a biofuels focus group ahead of the heat consultation late this year. In the Republic, at policy level, electrification is still the only solution.
However, a number of TDs are now starting to speak out against the strategy and ask for biofuel and biogas inclusion. The latest is Barry Cowen, an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been a TD for the Laois–Offaly constituency since the 2020 general election. He recently stated that he has doubts about the ‘version of reality’ in which Eamon Ryan and the Greens believe and say we need other solutions to meet our climate targets. Another blow to the Government’s policy is the low take up for deep retrofits. Various articles have been published
“OFTEC believes that there is no one solution for decarbonising heating and there will be a variety of options.”
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