Mr. Se?n Finan:

I thank the Chair and the committee for the invitation to present today. I am the CEO of the Irish Bioenergy Association. I am joined by my colleague Mr. Paddy Phelan, who is the president of the association and CEO of the South East Energy Agency. Our organisation represents and promotes the bioenergy sectors on the island of Ireland, including biomass, biogas, biomethane, biofuels, energy crops, wood fuels and biochar. Bioenergy is an environmentally, economically and socially sustainable energy. The association is a member of Bioenergy Europe and the European Biogas Association, and a founding member of Renewable Energy Ireland.

The Irish Bioenergy Association members broadly endorses the objective of the net zero industry Act, which seeks to enhance the competitiveness of European industries. This will be vital to achieving the EU’s ambitious climate goals.

Net-zero solutions will enable the transition to climate neutrality, and this can be even further accelerated by simplifying and fast-tracking permitting procedures and supporting the upscaling of sustainable renewable energy technologies.

In terms of the strategic annex, the legislation defines net-zero technologies” as all renewable technologies as defined by the renewable energy directive, which includes bioenergy. However, in section II, the legislation identifies “net-zero strategic projects”, which would be eligible for even more favourable treatment based on an annex which identifies “strategic net-zero technologies”. These benefits include notably faster permitting processes for the infrastructure and facilities that will need to be built for large-scale emissions reductions, as well as additional access to funding. Currently, the annex lists eight different technology areas, namely: solar; wind; battery and storage; heat pumps, electrolysers and fuel cells; sustainable biogas and biomethane; carbon capture; and grid technology.

We identify that there are gaps in this list which need to be addressed. To ensure that all renewable solutions are properly acknowledged as strategic sectors, solid biomass, which arises from sustainable forest management thinning material and liquid biofuels must be added to this list of strategic net-zero technologies. These could be added to an expanded item 6 or as a separate item. In addition to this, and to ensure the EU achieves negative emissions, which will be pivotal to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and carbon dioxide removals technologies, including biochar, should be explicitly added to point 7.

Specifically on bioenergy, the technology has emerged as a crucial component of the European clean energy industry system, as it promotes renewable, storable and low-carbon energy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases energy security and supports rural development. Additionally, it is a stable form of renewable energy source which can easily work together with other renewable energy solutions or provide an alternative when other solutions are not available.

According to the European Commission's long-term strategy for a climate-neutral economy, bioenergy can provide up to 27% of the total energy demand by 2050. According to the International Energy Agency, it is the largest source of renewable energy globally, currently accounting for 55% of renewable energy and more than 6% of the global energy supply. The IEA "Net Zero Emissions by 2050" scenario sees a rapid increase in the use of bioenergy to displace fossil fuels by 2030.

In Ireland, the sector is growing and contributing more than 90% of the renewable energy currently used in transport. It provides dispatchable renewable electricity through biomass- and biogas-fuelled CHP generators and contributes to renewable heat deployment through solid biomass support via the support scheme for renewable heat. Despite bioenergy not currently receiving the same level of policy support in Ireland as wind and solar technologies, our members are optimistic that this will come and the potential for the Irish bioenergy sector will be realised for its contribution to energy security, decarbonisation and emissions reduction.

Our colleagues in Bioenergy Europe, as our representative body, clearly state that if solid and liquid bioenergy is not considered as a strategic net-zero technology in the Net Zero Industrial Act that it may not generate sufficient support, which could push EU-based bioenergy technology providers to outsource their production to non-EU territories. Given that there are more than 50,000 businesses and manufacturers situated in the EU and more than 900,000 jobs across the value chain, this would then weaken the EU economy and decrease its industrial competitiveness. According to Bioenergy Europe, the EU is a leader in bioenergy sector technology, with more than 70% of the companies providing equipment to bioenergy investments being based in Europe. Only 7% are based in China, which makes bioenergy a truly European industry.

In terms of bioenergy, carbon capture and storage, BECCS, the absence of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage from the list of strategies also shows a missed opportunity. There is a heavy focus on CCS technologies, which overshadows the negative emission technologies and carbon dioxide removal technologies. The proposed Act lacks the vision to support an activity recognised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, as necessary to reach the Paris Agreement’s targets. By enforcing the market for BECCS, many of innovative projects would be quickly realised and would contribute to achieving negative emissions on a larger scale. One example of this is the BECCS, which is operated by Stockholm Exergi. That project aims to remove 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

IrBEA is calling on this committee to strongly encourage the European Commission to implement an EU-wide contract for difference for carbon dioxide captured and stored in non-ETS sector. This would be enough to ensure that operators in the biomethane and bioenergy sector can capture and store all the carbon dioxide that arises from their facilities. This carbon capture would result in energy that is not just net zero-emissions, but strongly negative in terms of emissions. It would also stimulate the sector in Ireland.

Our member, Ethanol Europe, estimates that the total carbon storage opportunity for Ireland, particularly in the fermentation industry, is approximately 250,000 tonnes per year, rising to well over 500,000 as biomethane develops. In Europe, it is from 20 million tonnes to 40 million tonnes. The EU is slowly developing some carbon removal supporting legislation but nothing is being done to make carbon capture economically viable. BECCS will play a pivotal role in achieving carbon neutrality as the International Energy Agency, IEA, clearly identifies bioenergy as the only carbon-negative solution for industry and a significant contributor.

To conclude, the increasing production of bioenergy in the EU and recognition of the strong potential for the sector in Ireland, together with a sustainability framework provided with the renewable energy directive, indicates that the industry can play its part in the decarbonisation pathway. With continued investment, innovation, policy and legislative recognition, bioenergy technologies can have a bright future within Ireland’s and Europe's renewable energy mix, provided they are recognised in this Net Zero Industry Act. We thank the chairperson and committee for the invitation and we look forward to taking any questions they may have.