Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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78. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the steps which he is taking to enhance the domestic sourcing and production of HVO as a replacement for diesel and kerosene; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11325/24]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Hydrotreated vegetable oil is a simple replacement for both diesel and kerosene. As a renewable fuel it is a relatively cheap alternative, but because of its limited availability both here and within the EU we are not prepared to consider it as a cheap, renewable alternative to kerosene to tackle the huge challenge of converting our large number of oil-fired central heating systems.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy. I understand he is primarily looking to discuss the use of HVO in the heating context and my comments may focus on that. Our 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, solid biomass, biogases and other technologies such as heat pumps and district heating systems.

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 our climate action plan commitments, my Department is working on the development of a heat policy statement and a roadmap for the phase-out of fossil fuels in heating as part of the requirement to transition to zero-carbon heating by 2050 at the latest.

As the Deputy knows, there is a variety of different sectors that will seek to use HVO as a low-carbon solution. I expect it will have a significant role, particularly in hard-to-abate areas, in transport, data centres or other applications where we do not have any other easy zero-carbon alternative. We have that in the heating sector. HVO is quite a scarce resource. While the volume is not insignificant, it is a minute 1% or 2% of our overall fuel availability. It is right for us to target that scarce resource to sectors where it can have the most impact.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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It is a pity the Minister did not actually respond to the question I put to him. Hopefully he will do that in his supplementary response. HVO is both relatively cheap and easy to switch. Some 90% of HVO could be blended with a 10% kerosene mix in existing oil-fired central heating systems with the cost of converting the boiler at about €300. This compares with a cost of conversion of about €80,000 for an air source heat-pump to a house built 50 or 60 years ago. However, there are issues with availability and the lack of any interest in creating a native industry to produce the fuel. We could produce rapeseed oil to meet the demand for HVO here. This would reduce biogenic methane emissions from cattle and provide a badly needed cash crop for Irish farmers. It should not be beyond our capacity in this country, with such agencies as Teagasc, to create such an industry. Will the Minister commit to doing that?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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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.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Even based on the current projections, by 2030 the demand for oil-fired central heating will be about 4,000 GW hours. Some 1,500 GW hours could be provided through the available HVO. That is based on conservative figures. However, the big problem here is that to date there has been an absence of any clear demand for energy crops that would attract farmers to move away from cattle, dairy mainly, but also beef production. Yet we have a shortage of feed crops for HVO production throughout Europe, a failure to meet our increased tillage acreage targets and a need to reduce the national herd to meet the Government's own 2030 climate targets. I previously did an assessment of converting our three peat-fired power plants to 100% biomass. That would displace 600,000 tonnes of carbon each year from beef production and generate €465 per ha for farmers with a price of carbon at €100 per tonne.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy. The use of biomass in power generation has a role. The main example we have at the moment is the Edenderry power plant, managed by Bord na Móna, which was designed to be 100% biomass compatible and has done exactly that. We switched away from the burning of peat in it. We are using 100% wood material now. I met Bord na Móna on this issue last week and I am told it is working very effectively. It is using a lot of relatively low-grade waste wood material. There is a huge potential opportunity for us to look now at storing some of the carbon emissions from that plant. Then we will have a carbon-negative power plant. I agree that sort of use of biomass in power generation to actually save and reduce emissions has a real future. Bord na Móna is on top of that and delivering it. I do not believe that relates in a sense to the HVO issue because that is a wood-waste material which does not impact on the rest of the agricultural sector. I agree that we are going to have much more growing of biofuel crops. Oilseed rape, for example, is a very attractive crop for farmers. I believe it can provide a good break crop. The sectors that will pay the highest premium for that - the industrial and transport sectors - can, will and should give farmers the incentive to get a good solid return from their work in growing it. The use in those sectors makes much more sense than in the heat sector.