THE GOVERNMENT WILL raise fears that fraudulent imported biofuel could be passed off as sustainable fuel at a meeting of EU energy ministers next week.

Hundreds of millions of litres of biofuel are used in Ireland but there is a risk that some may not be what is claimed.

As reported by The Journal last month, a 24% increase in biofuel use in Ireland last year was largely met with an additional 54 million litres of fuel made from palm oil mill effluent (POME) – a waste product of palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia. This represented a 28-fold increase in POME use in Irish transport.

There are indications the amount of POME-derived biofuel sold into Europe last year may have exceeded the amount that could reasonably be expected to have been produced – raising fears that virgin palm oil may have been passed off as more sustainable, waste-based fuel.

Now Minister for Transport and Energy Eamon Ryan will raise fraud prevention at the EU Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg next week. 

In a paper to be circulated at the meeting, the government says the EU may need to restrict the amount of POME that can be counted towards the bloc’s renewable energy targets.

The Irish paper states that comparing the amount of POME-based biofuel sold in the EU last year to the amount of POME that can be physically produced worldwide raises “cause for concern”.

The government goes on urge the European Commission to “take account of these concerns raised about POME and other palm oil derivatives” as it investigates potential biofuel fraud, and to take appropriate action on the issue.

The planned intervention marks a notable change in tone from the Department Transport; as recently as two weeks ago the Department said it had been assured as to the sustainability of current biofuel supplies to Ireland. At that stage it also expressed no concern about the sustainability of POME.

A palm plantation and palm oil factory in Indonesia in May 2023. Alamy Alamy

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Biofuel use

The amount of biofuel used in Ireland is increasing each year and this trend is set to continue, driven by government policy. The government mandates the blending of increasing amounts of biofuel into petrol and diesel, with a view to hitting carbon reduction and renewable energy targets.

Some vehicles run entirely on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a biofuel product. Most HVO sold in Ireland last year was made from POME.

Palm oil production has caused deforestation and habitat destruction in Indonesia and Malaysia.