OFTEC NEWS
“With these parties choosing to include HVO and other biofuels in their manifesto, there is an ideal opportunity to get renewable liquid fuels into the next Programme for Government.”
mean that investing in retrofits and heat pumps is beyond many households’ budgets. Beyond cost, other obstacles to heat pump adoption are labour shortages (with as much as 17,000 heat pump installers required in Ireland over the next decade), as well as electricity supply and grid capacity. If all fossil fuel-heated homes were converted to a heat pump, the total increased requirement for electricity would be approx. 1.2GW! SO, THE ANSWER IS? We have never disagreed with heat pumps as a heating source; for new or energy efficient buildings or where the grid will support the load, heat pumps are the obvious choice, but for hundreds of thousands of families, the cost of making their homes heat pump-ready makes a switch impossible. That’s where low carbon liquid fuels can play a role. They are available in substantial quantities and an existing liquid fuelled boiler can make the switch with minimal adjustments and no capital spend on the building fabric. So, with these parties choosing to include HVO and other biofuels in their manifesto, there is an ideal opportunity
to get renewable liquid fuels into the next programme for Government and to see policy vehicles like the Renewable Heating Obligation pave the way for a lower- carbon blended fuel to be the new normal for heating fuel and to replace kerosene. Low-carbon fuels have already been integrated into the transport sector in Ireland using existing infrastructure, with uptake continuing to rise. A 20% biofuel blend used in heating fuels has already been tested in both the UK and Ireland and can work effectively in tandem with current government policies. Furthermore, introducing a 20% blend in Ireland could lead to a reduction in emissions comparable to deep retrofitting and installing heat pumps in 160,000 homes (based on current installation heat pump installation rates this would take approximately 26 years to achieve). Watch this space as we continue to work with DECC and other Government departments to ensure consumers have a choice on how to heat their home in the future and contribute to reducing their carbon emission but in a cost-effective way to suit their budgets. If we can get renewable liquid fuels accepted in the Republic of Ireland, it is only a matter of time before the other regions follow suit.
FINE GAEL MANIFESTO • Support Transition from Oil and Fossil Fuels: Target older homes still using oil to switch to renewable heating systems, lowering carbon footprints and costs. Support the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) and other biofuels to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not possible in the short term.
FIANNA FÁIL MANIFESTO • Promote HVO and BIOLPG as alternative fuels (for) homes. • Pilot a dedicated rural retrofitting programme for homes currently using solid fuel or oil heating systems.
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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