OFTEC IRELAND NEWS
pointing to low take up but the report from Deputy Denis Naughten, the former minister who introduced the home retrofit grant scheme, is probably the most damning. The article reports that he had to abandon plans to avail of retro fit works at his own house because of the cost. According to the article, Naughten said that the price quoted for retrofitting his home last year increased 53% in three months. Naughten is quoted saying that “the price was up 33% but the cost to me was up 53% because the grant doesn’t increase with the cost of the works.” One of the stumbling blocks we have in the Republic is that biofuels are not recognised in Dwelling Energy Assessment Procedure (DEAP), the software used to produce Building Energy Rating Certificates (BER), similar to the EPC produced in the UK. The DEAP software is managed by the
Sustainable Energy Authority for Ireland, and OFTEC have been lobbying them behind the scenes. The good news is that they have agreed to a face-to-face meeting in June and we are very hopeful that, with the mounting evidence base that modern synthetic and biofuels are now in such abundance, (and recognised as a heating source in the UK SAP Model), Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) will be recognised and permitted as part of the DEAP procedure going forwards. The SEAI’s stated mission is to be at the heart of delivering Ireland’s energy revolution. It is increasingly clear that HVO has a role to play in that revolution.
It has now been clearly demonstrated that biofuels such as HVO offer a more affordable, accessible and highly effective alternative to mechanisms such as deep retrofitting which currently receive an unwarranted, disproportionate amount of politicians’ attention. Just as it is currently being done in the area of transport, biofuels including HVO hold the potential to have an immensely positive impact in reducing the carbon emissions caused by heating. They can, and OFTEC firmly believes that they can and will play a key role in helping Ireland achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Watch this space.
“Biofuels offer a more affordable, accessible and highly effective alternative to deep retrofitting, which currently receives disproportionate attention from politicians.”
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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