Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 January 2017
1502. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the origins of the foreign wood chips or pellets being burned in power stations in Ireland; and if these are from sustainable forests. [1307/17]
View answerThe fuel used in power stations is a matter for the operators involved and I have no role or function in this regard. However, I do understand that biomass, such as wood pellets and woodchips, imported into Ireland must meet the EU Timber Requirements which ensure that the timber was legally harvested in the country of origin.
Though sustainability criteria exist for biofuels used in the transport sector as set out the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), currently there are no equivalent sustainability criteria for solid biomass such as wood chips and wood pellets. The European Commission has published recommended sustainability criteria for solid biomass in its Communication SEC(2010)66. It is it is left up to each Member State whether or not to include these when introducing subsidies for bioenergy and this issues is being considered in the development of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which is to undergo public consultation.
Additionally, the European Commission is proposing to reinforce the current sustainability criteria to include solid biomass through the proposed LULUCF (Land use, land-use change and forestry) Regulation and the proposed recasting of the Renewable Energy Directive. Both of these proposals were published in the second half of 2016.
