ASSOCIATION NEWS
“We are now seeing signs of change, with many politicians showing greater interest in alternative solutions to reduce carbon emissions in the heating sector.”
efforts to get our solution into legislation. We are now seeing signs of change, with many politicians showing greater interest in alternative solutions to reduce carbon emissions in the heating sector, most notably in ROI due to low uptake in retrofit grants and heat pump installations. A recent press article quoted the chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council, who indicated that RoI is facing fines of at least €8.2bn if it misses the 2030 decarbonisation targets. Clearly, current Government policy on decarbonisation in ROI is not working. Why? Because it is solely focused on electrification and does not look at a range of technologies. In a recent survey carried out on behalf of our sector, 73% of rural dwellers said they have no plans to install a heat pump in the next five years. Additionally, 67% of respondents were quite or very supportive of an increase in the use of advanced, synthetic and biofuels to reduce emissions without switching to EVs or heat pumps. Armed with this latest data, we will be
lobbying ROI politicians, suggesting that the current Climate Action Plan needs to be reworked with a view to including low-carbon fuels, including sustainable biofuels to reduce emissions in the residential and commercial heat sectors. In Northern Ireland, energy is a devolved matter, and the low-carbon heat consultation (energy strategy) will be released in October 2024, with the biofuel consultation following over the autumn and winter. So, fingers crossed, we continue to lobby for the inclusion of sustainable biofuels in future energy policy in NI and ROI. The mood music is good. We are getting feedback from the civil servants writing the manifestos for the next ROI election that their energy policy will talk about ‘mixed technology’, which means more than just electricity. In NI, we have met with all the parties and will have cross-party support for inclusion of biofuels in the new energy policy. So, watch this space. Our lobbying is and will pay dividends for the liquid fuel sector!
L-R: David Blevings and Irish Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue.
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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