Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 May 2024
108. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Transport if he is looking at mechanisms that will grant incentives to target the production of e-fuels in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20860/24]
View answerMy Department continues to assess potential transport decarbonisation pathways and has recently established an inter-Departmental Alternative Fuels Working Group to coordinate action by stakeholders with policy responsibility for alternative fuels in transport (encompassing zero-emissions energy and fuel, renewable fuel, and low carbon fuels), as well as related infrastructure and vehicle technology for alternative fuels in transport, aligning with relevant national policy for future production of alternative fuels.
Last Friday, my Department also published an issues paper and call for submissions to inform the development of an updated national policy framework for alternative fuels infrastructure, following the recent adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in transport (AFIR) which came into full application across all EU Member States from 13 April 2024.
Key questions posed in the issues paper include those seeking the views of wider transport and energy sector stakeholders on the future demand for alternative and advanced e-fuels in the land transport, aviation and maritime sectors, and seeking to identify what supporting measures should be established to meet the required infrastructural targets mandated under AFIR.
Submissions received on foot of the public consultation will inform the preparation of an updated National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport, in line with both AFIR and the significant evolution in national policy since the previous NPF was published in 2017. I intend to publish an updated draft policy framework for further consultation in the second half of 2024, with final policy frameworks required to be submitted to the EU Commission by 31 December 2025.
I note also that when supplied in the transport sector, e-fuels are known as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) and can be awarded Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) certificates as an incentive to supply. While the RTFO incentivises supply, it is not intended as an incentive for production. Apart from when a small volume of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) was imported in 2022, e-fuels have not been produced and supplied for use in the transport sector in Ireland.
More specifically in relation to synthetic Sustainable Aviation Fuel (or eSAF, as it is also commonly known), my Department is at the initial stages of SAF policy development and is working on the development of a national Sustainable Aviation Fuel Policy Roadmap. Government has not been asked to consider any policy proposal on SAF production as yet.
To examine some of the challenges associated with the deployment of SAF, my Department established the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Task Force in Q4 of 2023. This Task Force brings together stakeholders with responsibility for, and interest in, policy development and implementation in relation to SAF. Membership of the Task Force includes Government Departments and Agencies, airlines, airports, academia and representative bodies.
Through engagement with this broad range of stakeholders and experts my Department aims to develop a fuller understanding of this emerging industry to enable the development of policy roadmap, We cannot pre-empt the outcome of this work at this stage.
However, it is important to note that while Government has committed significant funding to support low emitting vehicles through the National Development Plan, which currently includes an allocation of almost €500 million for the period 2021-2025 and additional support from the Climate Action Fund, direct electrification remains the priority decarbonisation technology for land transport, with e-fuels considered to hold greater potential in the harder-to-abate aviation and maritime sectors.
