Policy information
Transport Energy
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications
Published on
Last updated on
Energy use in transport increased in 2018 by 2.6%, to a total of 5,202 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). Of this energy consumed, 96.6% was derived from petroleum products, with virtually all of the remainder coming from renewables.
The government is committed to decarbonising Ireland’s transport sector, which currently makes up 20% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) works on transitioning Ireland’s transport sector away from the use of fossil fuels towards lower carbon alternatives, particularly zero-emission technologies such as Electric Vehicles (EVs).
The main components of DECC's work on Transport Energy include this emphasis on supporting the growth of EVs though financial and policy measures as well as managing the government’s Biofuels Obligation Scheme and supporting lower carbon transport fuels like hydrogen and compressed natural gas.
The Climate Action Plan set out a range of actions in order to tackle climate disruption in Ireland. There are a number of actions under the plan relating to transport energy.
Biofuels are renewable liquid or gaseous fuels used in transport and are created from biomass material. In general, biofuels are deployed blended with fossil fuels in Ireland with bioethanol blended with gasoline in petrol (up to 5% volume) and biodiesel blended with fossil diesel (up to 7%). Bioethanol is typically produced from crops such as corn, wheat and sugar cane with biodiesel produced from oil crops such as rapeseed as well as from wastes such as used cooking oil and animal fats.
The use of biofuels brings a wide range of environmental benefits including the reduction of greenhouse gas and other emissions. Additionally, increasing demand for biofuels provides opportunities for their production in Ireland.
The Biofuels Obligation Scheme was introduced in 2010 and is administered by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA). It is a certificate based scheme which sets out an obligation that suppliers of road transport fuels must include a certain percentage of environmentally sustainable biofuels across their general fuel mix. The scheme works by ensuring that each supplier fulfils their requirement by having the necessary number of biofuel certificates required.
A Item was unpublished or removed
DECC held Item was unpublished or removed
The National Policy Framework on Alternative Fuels Infrastructure for Transport in Ireland, published in May 2017, sets out the need to develop publically accessible fast chargers to support growth in electric vehicles (EVs). In addition, as part of the Climate Action Plan, the government set a target to have 936,000 EVs (including battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs) on Irish roads by 2030. This is equivalent to one-third of around 2.8 million vehicles that are currently on the road in Ireland.
The number of electric vehicles in Ireland has grown significantly in recent years. It is expected that, with the introduction of more models of EVs with longer drive ranges by an increasing number of manufacturers, the current trend will continue. This growth will continue to be supported by government measures and the work of DECC so that Ireland can meet its targets and transition away from the dominance of fossil fuel vehicles in private transport.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) hosts information about EVs, including details on models available in Ireland, business vehicles and available grants.
In December 2016, DECC and the Department of Transport, with the support of the Department of the Taoiseach, established a Low Emissions Vehicle Taskforce to consider the range of measures and options available to government for the purpose of accelerating the deployment of low carbon vehicles in the transport sector.
The role of the Taskforce was to examine and make recommendations on a range of potential stimuli, such as grants, tax incentives, tolls and parking. Other issues such as infrastructure, legislation and public leadership were also part of the work programme.
The work programme of the Taskforce was divided into two distinct phases. The first phase focused exclusively on electric vehicles (EVs), specifically battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs). A progress report was published in September 2018.
The second phase of the Taskforce’s work programme focused on other low emission vehicle types such as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied natural gas (LNG), Biogas and Hydrogen. It also examined planning legislation and building regulations for all low emission vehicles – including the potential for the planning system to put in place requirements for the provision for electric vehicle charging. This phase has completed its work and the progress report was published in November 2019.
There are a number of ways to charge an electric vehicle (EV), and while the experience can be similar to refuelling a diesel or petrol car, there are fundamental differences as well as much more flexibility and independence for the consumer when it comes to an EV. Having considered international best practice as well as the best options for Irish consumers, the government has set out a hierarchy for the promotion of different types of for EV charging:
Home charging is considered the primary method of charging for the majority of EVs in Ireland and is considered the least expensive form of charging, especially when utilising a night rate. It accounts for around 80% of EV charging sessions and will continue to be the primary method of charging in the future. Government policy will seek to maintain this high level of home charging. The Electric Vehicle Home Charger Grant was introduced in early 2018 to help homeowners install an electric vehicle charge point on their property. This scheme provides grants of up to €600 towards the purchase and installation of a home charger unit. The scheme is administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
On-street charging is considered necessary for owners of electric vehicles who do not have access to a private parking space. The provision of on-street charging also provides the opportunity for people to park and charge their electric vehicle. Since September 2019, the Public Charge Point Scheme has been in place to provide funding to local authorities for the development of on-street public chargers. The scheme is administered by the SEAI and is detailed in the Climate Action Plan under action 72a.
Location/destination charging includes chargers provided at hotels, shopping centres, visitor attractions, places of employment, private car parks etc. Such chargers are considered a feature that can, and will be, provided as a service for the benefit of the customers and/or employees. These chargers will be of varying power, depending on the location.
Fast charging in 2020 allows the majority of current electric vehicles to charge around 80% in 20 minutes or so. Fast charging tackles the ‘range anxiety’ associated with electric vehicles, particularly for long distance journeys. Fast chargers are mainly located on National Primary Routes and areas of high traffic concentration. As the range of EVs increases year-on-year, less and less people will need fast chargers along their routes and will likely utilise home charging and destination charging.
A network of over 700 publicly accessible charge points is already available, including roughly 100 fast chargers, which are mainly found on national routes. The majority of these chargers have been rolled out by the ESB through its eCars programme, a map with locations of chargers is available online.
The Climate Action Fund has allocated up to €10 million to a project from ESB eCars, which will be co-funded by a further €10 million from ESB, that will further enhance the current network and complete a nationwide EV charging network capable of facilitating large-scale electric vehicle uptake over the next decade. This project is referred to in the Climate Action Plan under action 72b.
This project includes the installation of 140 fast chargers consisting of 90 150kW chargers, each of which will be capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously, and upgrading 50 existing standard chargers to 50kW chargers The project will also involve replacing over 500 existing standard charge points with next generation high reliability models. This project will result in an increase in the number of fast chargers which will be mainly located along the motorway network and is expected to complete in 2022. A full breakdown of the works includes:
Companies such as Ionity, Tesla and EasyGo also have a number of fast chargers available for public use. It is expected that the market for fast charging will continue to grow with more private companies becoming involved in the expansion of the network.
The government has already committed significant funding to support electric vehicles (EVs) through the National Development Plan which includes an allocation of €200 million for the period 2018-2027. DECC provides the following supports which are delivered by the SEAI:
Current Government incentives to support EV purchases also include:
Ireland still depends heavily on oil for transport. The majority of private cars are still fuelled by petroleum products, as are virtually all commercial vehicles. While petrol consumption fell in 2018, diesel consumption increased by 4.7% during 2018, to 3,095 kilotonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe). During the same period, the consumption of Jet kerosene, used in aviation, increased by 7.9%, to 1,102 ktoe. Oil also remains the dominant fuel in the residential sector, accounting for 38% of the residential energy consumed in Ireland during 2018.
Ireland has no domestic commercial oil production and is therefore 100% dependent on petroleum product and crude oil imports. The downstream oil market in Ireland is fully deregulated, with a number of oil companies importing petroleum products into the State. While the majority of oil imports into the State are in the form of refined product, significant volumes of crude oil are also imported. Crude oil is imported into Ireland by a single refinery, located at Whitegate, in Co Cork. This crude comes from various locations where light/sweet (low density/low sulphur) crude is found. The refinery supplies refined products (excluding jet kerosene) to the Irish retail market, particularly in the south and west of Ireland.
The Irish Petroleum Industry Association (IPIA) is the representative body of the oil companies in Ireland engaged in the importation, distribution and marketing of petroleum products. Its membership represents the majority of the oil industry in Ireland. DECC and the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA) work with IPIA in oil emergency contingency planning. In the event of a disruption in the supply of petroleum products to the market, DECC will engage with IPIA as the representative body of the industry.
The availability of petroleum products is crucial to the functioning of our critical infrastructure and transport sector. For this reason, and arising from our membership of the European Union (EU) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), Ireland is obliged to maintain a strategic oil reserve equivalent to 90 days of oil usage. This obligation is met through stocks owned and held by NORA, either in Ireland or abroad.
Securing Ireland’s supply of petroleum products means the government must:
Given the importance of oil for transport usage and in the maintenance of critical infrastructure, Ireland holds a strategic petroleum product reserve, equivalent to 90 days of average net imports during the previous calendar year. This stockholding is maintained by the National Oil Reserves Agency (NORA), who ensure it is available for use in the event of an international oil shortage or a domestic disruption to petroleum product availability. NORA may release these stocks to the commercial oil companies in the event of a shortage of petroleum products on the market, as directed by the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
NORA was established as a stand-alone agency under the NORA Act 2007. Its function is to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment who determines the annual stockholding obligation required to be held by NORA, based on 90 days of average net imports during the previous calendar year. Stocks may be held within Ireland or in countries with which Ireland has concluded an Oil Stocks Agreement.