Ryan raised alarm over biofuel fraud while in Opposition

Minister for Transport and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan warned of possible fraud in imported biofuel when he was in Opposition but has allowed its use to increase while in Government.

Fears are growing that Asian producers are substituting palm oil for waste cooking oil in biodiesel production to cash in on increasing renewable fuel demand in Europe, including the Republic.

Mr Ryan warned both the Government and the joint Oireachtas committee on climate action while he was in Opposition in 2019 of the risks of biofuel fraud.

“The biofuels obligation scheme as it operates in Ireland, as in other EU countries, particularly the UK and Netherlands, has facilitated a massive fraud with the mislabelling of palm oil as used cooking oil,” he told a Government consultation in November 2019.

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The same month he warned the Oireachtas climate committee that the Republic could face higher fines for failing to meet EU renewables directive targets if it emerged that it had been using fraudulently labelled palm oil.

However, he has continued with policies that support cheap imports of waste cooking oil biodiesel from Asia, some of which the EU is investigating for possible tax evasion.

The department did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Mr Ryan’s position.

National Oil Reserves Agency figures show that biodiesel used here last year included 67.1 million litres of used cooking oil from China, 40 per cent of total consumption. The same report shows that 22 million litres came from the UK.

European Commission officials are investigating allegations that Indonesian-used cooking oil is relabelled in China and the UK before arriving in the EU to evade extra import duties.

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Auditors recently stopped certifying biodiesel produced in parts of China as they could not verify that it was made from used cooking oil as claimed.

There are growing fears that Asian producers are using virgin palm oil, whose production requires rainforest destruction, instead of waste cooking oil.

The Republic’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation requires oil companies to ensure that 17 per cent of the motor fuel they sell is renewable, that is, biodiesel or bioethanol.

But if they use hydrogenated vegetable oil — made from used cooking oil — the obligation falls by about two-thirds, giving them an extra incentive to use that fuel instead, boosting consumption of the fuel here.

The Department of Transport recently established a working, group including industry representatives, to determine the Republic’s possible vulnerability to biofuel fraud.