To Tackle Biofuel Fraud, Ireland Takes Matters into Its Own Hands

by Sean Goulding Carroll (EURACTIV) The Irish government has confirmed it will set up a working group to ensure the sustainability of biofuels used in the country, as concerns grow that tainted fuels are entering the EU market.

The decision by the Irish Department of Transport comes amid allegations that palm oil, a feedstock restricted in the EU due to its supposed contribution to deforestation abroad, is being passed off as used-cooking oil (UCO), a waste biofuel material.

Ireland is heavily reliant on biofuels to decarbonise its transport system, which is centred on road transport.

Data from British and Irish authorities show some 151 million litres of UCO from Malaysia was exported to the UK and Ireland alone in 2020 – far beyond the 70 million litres Malaysia reportedly collects annually.

Edel Hackett, a spokesperson for Irish environment minister Eamon Ryan, told Euractiv that the working group on biofuel sustainability will “review any possible vulnerability in Ireland’s system to fraud or other indirect impacts” which arise from the “planned future increase in biofuels supply for transport use under climate action plan decarbonisation targets”.

Under EU rules, biofuels made from waste materials, such as cooking oil used to fry food, can be double counted towards renewable energy targets. This has allegedly incentivised unscrupulous producers to label cheaper palm oil as UCO in a bid to charge more.

In an opinion article for Tagespiegel Background, Elmar Baumann, the managing director of the German Biofuel Industry Association, questioned the veracity of advanced biofuels exported from China.

Although advanced biofuels are incentivised under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, dealing with biofuel sustainability fraud is at the discretion of EU countries.

The European Commission has no direct mechanism to deal with environmental fraud, though it has touted the upcoming EU Union Database as a means to improve oversight.

James Cogan, a policy advisor with Ethanol Europe, called for an EU office of biofuels fraud to be created to tackle the issue across the bloc.

Despite challenges with addressing sustainability issues at EU level, the EU executive is empowered to tackle tax fraud.

On 16 August, the Commission announced that it would launch an investigation into biofuel imports from China and the United Kingdom following concerns that Indonesia is sending its exports through these countries to avoid EU custom import duties. READ MORE