Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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134. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the supply of HVO fuel to Ireland; if the supply is sufficient to meet current demand in all relevant sectors; if there are plans to increase supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1902/24]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will report on the supply of biofuels to Ireland; if the supply is sufficient to meet current demand in all relevant sectors; if there are plans to increase supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1903/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 134 and 135 together.

HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) is a drop-in bioliquid which can replace fossil diesel up to 100%, with GHG reduction benefits. When used in transport the HVO is referred to as biofuel. HVO bioliquid is also used as renewable energy for heating.

Renewable transport fuels such as biofuels are a core transitional technology relied upon for the medium-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the road transport sector, accounting for 1.08 MT CO2eq (approx 14%) of the transport sector decarbonisation target to be achieved by 2030 under the Climate Action Plan. In 2022, approximately 307m litres of biofuel was placed on the market.

Supporting the supply of renewable energy in transport, the Renewable Transport Fuel Policy sets out the pathway to the achievement of both Climate Action Plan targets ) biofuel targets of at least B20 (biodiesel equivalent) in diesel and E10 (Ethanol) in petrol by 2030 and European obligations under the Renewable Energy Directive and Fuel Quality Directive concerning sustainability and GHG reduction criteria.

The Minister for Transport last year published the updated Renewable Transport Fuel Policy Statement 2023-2025. The Policy Statement sets out indicative obligation rate increase for renewable transport fuels and advanced biofuels to 2030 and outlines the steps that have to be taken over the next two years to achieve these proposed rates, in line with European requirements and national Climate Action Plan (CAP) objectives.

The Biofuel Study Report 2022 estimates that between 570-730m litres of biodiesel/HVO supply could be required to meet the Climate Action Plan biofuel target by 2030. The Study indicates potential to meet this estimated future supply through industry plans for scaled-up indigenous production of these biofuels. The study notes, however, the likely continued reliance on imported feedstock supply to support this level of estimated future production.

Concerning sustainability of future supply, the supply of biofuel feedstocks such as used cooking oil is limited and additional demand for it will impact on its cost and may heighten the risk of fuel fraud in global supply chains. To combat this the EU is introducing more rigorous verification requirements including an EU database for all biofuel supply, and supervision by Member States authorities of certification bodies responsible for ensuring economic operators compliance with EU sustainability rules.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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136. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment how much HVO fuel Ireland produced in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; how much, if any, was exported in each of the aforementioned years; what proportion can be considered sustainable versus land destruction, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1904/24]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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137. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment how much HVO fuel Ireland imported in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023; what proportion can be considered sustainable versus land destruction, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1905/24]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 136 and 137 together.

While biofuels policy generally sits with the Department of Transport, the Online Levy Application (OLA) system is an application administered by the Department of the Environment, Climate & Communications (DECC) which allows oil companies to submit their monthly data for all petroleum products and Renewable Transport Fuels, that are subject to the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) Levy.

As HVO reporting was only captured on the OLA system relatively recently, data only exists from 2022 onwards and is reproduced in the table below.

The 2023 import figures include the total of Standard and Co-processed HVO. (standard - 57,864,053 litres, co-processed - 2,687,488 litres).

Co-processing is a process where biogenic feedstocks are co-processed with petroleum intermediate products such as vacuum gas oil to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels. The biogenic feedstocks suitable for co-processing include upgraded pyrolysis oil, vegetable oil, used cooking oil and animal fat/tallow.