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

There is nothing to stop anyone using HVO in a variety of different applications. It is a question of where we should put public money. How do we use policy measures to steer and give a direction into the next two decades as to where we are going? Heating systems, once installed, are there for a long time. The Deputy is right. HVO comes from a variety of different sources such as waste oil from the restaurant or other industries but in relatively small volumes. The international trade volume causes concern about land use, so that too is limited. Last week I was in County Meath and met a number of producers who are currently using a lot of tallow and other product that they convert into HVO. That is an absolutely optimal use. Whitegate oil refinery in County Cork has invested significantly and uses that resource in a way that is absolutely optimal. It is true, as the Deputy said, that rapeseed oil and other feedstock can provide it but again the volumes are very limited. We should be careful not to provide false promise to people that there is an endless supply or that it does not have land use implications. In those circumstances, it is best to use technologies in the best location. That is not the same as completely restricting anything or restricting the use of it, but in terms of what supports we provide or what direction we give, I believe HVO is best used in the transport and industrial sector. We have other alternatives for the heating sector that we can promote.

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