Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

It is critical and central to the whole strategy. Going back to what Deputy Crowe said, environmental measures can be used to promote some airports over others. Shannon has potential there. It has a very long runway and can take heavier loads, a lower carbon footprint from across the Atlantic because of distance, lower circling times because of less congestion but also the potential to be a leading airport in the development of new sustainable aviation fuels. That is likely first to be taking feedstock from either fats, tallow, oils, other waste oil products, waste cooking oil, and-or other biofuel blends, for which we will have requirements for the middle or end of this decade and into the next decade within the European regulatory system, where a certain percentage of such fuels will be available. Shannon has the capability. In particular, under the apron in the airport it has fuel tanks that have an advantage over what might be available, for example, in Dublin Airport. In addition, it has a jetty into an excellent deepwater port and neighbouring areas in Shannon, such as Foynes, the island of the Foynes Harbour, but also Moneypoint and Tarbert, for the potential for the production, as the Senator said, of some of the hydrogen that could be used in future synthetic fuels.

I engaged last year with the US Secretary of Transportation and the chief executive of a US airlines to say that if they are looking for a partner on this side of the Atlantic to be the first location to deploy such sustainable aviation fuels on the principle they want to restock on either side of the Atlantic, we would offer Shannon as just that sort of exemplary cutting-edge airport. There is real potential in that. It will probably start, as I said, with blended arrangements. However, even in that, Shannon has the advantage because of its fuel storage capability, its deepwater jetty terminal connection and its underlying advantages of having a long runway with a lightly used airfield relative to others.