Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 April 2024
9. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications what action his Department is taking to research and develop the hydrotreated vegetable oil market in Ireland, in view that HVO fuel could be substituted for retrofitting to home boilers, which could lead to an immediate reduction in carbon emissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17017/24]
View answerThe Climate Action Plan includes a range of measures to address the use of fossil fuel in heating systems in buildings and the National Heat Study contains the detailed analysis that is informing the development of options, policies and measures to decarbonise the heating and cooling sectors to 2050. The Study considered a number of potential decarbonisation options for a wide range of dwelling and business types. This included the use of liquid biofuels such as hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), solid biomass, biogases and other technologies such as heat pumps and district heating networks.
The recommendation of the Heat Study is that heat pumps are the optimal decarbonisation path for heating systems, with district heating also being an option that can be widely deployed. There are, therefore, no current plans to provide supports for HVO in a heating context.
In line with CAP commitments, my Department is working on the development of a Heat Policy Statement and a Roadmap for the Phase Out of Fossil Fuel heating as part of the requirement to transition to zero-carbon heating by 2050 at the latest.
