Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 May 2017
1293. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the consideration he has given to the beneficial health impacts of increased ethanol blending in petrol when tackling NO2 and fine particulate matter pollution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20285/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraVehicle emissions are a key source of negative health impacts from a range of air pollutants including nitrogen oxides (NOx) , particulate matter (PM), black carbon and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particularly in urban areas. Though petrol and diesel road vehicles have met progressively tighter EU emission limits, known as Euro standards, since the early 1990s, increases in road traffic, changes to the ratio of diesel to petrol vehicles, questions over the efficacy of the Euro standards in real driving conditions, as well as the behaviour of some vehicle manufacturers, mean that the air pollution impact from road transport still presents a significant challenge.
The use of biofuels such as ethanol (or biodiesel for diesel cars) can help to reduce emissions, particularly carbon dioxide emissions, from road transport. Since 1 July 2010, Ireland has operated a Biofuels Obligation Scheme which is administered by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) and requires road transport fuel suppliers to bring increasing amounts of biofuel to the transport fuel market. The obligation has been increased over the years since the beginning of the scheme, with the most recent increase bringing it to 8.695% from 1 January 2017.
The use of biofuels is not, however, without potential drawbacks, which can include the displacement of food production, or habitat destruction for the purposes of clearing land for biofuel production. Strict sustainability criteria must be applied to biofuels under the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) before they can be counted towards Member State’s renewable energy targets. Under these criteria, biofuels may not be made from raw materials originating from tropical forests or recently deforested areas, drained peatland, wetland or highly biodiverse areas.
In addition, the European Commission adopted Directive (EU) 2015/1513 (also known as the Indirect Land-Use Change or ILUC Directive) in September 2015. This Directive limits to 7% the amount of energy that Member States can count towards their 2020 renewable energy targets in transport from crop based biofuels whose use could lead to indirect land-use change. It also contains incentives to encourage the development of advanced biofuels that do not affect food production. The ILUC Directive will be transposed into Irish legislation by September 2017.
It is important to ensure that the solution of any environmental problem, such as air pollution in Ireland, is not at the cost of creating a greater environmental problem elsewhere.
I am currently developing Ireland's first ever National Clean Air Strategy to advance a coherent cross Government framework for decision making on policies and actions that can impact air quality and pollution from all sources, including road transport. A public consultation on the Strategy closed last week.
