New solid fuels standards revealed by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications have been “cautiously welcomed” by the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA).

The new solid fuel standards will be brought in over the next year, after which the most polluting options will be taken off the Irish market.

A solid fuels standard on wood moisture levels is among the new regulations announced, which will aim to ensure that wood fuel is clean burning and efficient.

Commenting, Noel Gavigan, technical executive at IrBEA, said:

“The introduction of a 25% limit on fuel moisture content, later to be reduced to 20%, is a welcome development for the market.”

Gavigan highlighted that there are already “several dozen wood fuel suppliers in the Irish market” that only produce fuel to the 25% moisture content standard, certified through the Wood Fuel Quality Assurance (WFQA) scheme.

However, the IrBEA executive said his organisation is concerned over one aspect of the proposed public awareness campaign.

The campaign states “Ask yourself: Do I need to light a fire? – Use other cleaner heating sources instead if possible”.

The new proposed public awareness campaign suggests that consumers should question the use of a fire to heat their home.

Gavigan said: “This proposed element ‘do I need to light a fire?’ sends a confusing message to the general public.

“Any campaign rolled out by the department should encourage people to move away from open fires and fossil fuels and use more efficient and renewable heating sources, rather than questioning if they should light a fire in the first place. For many a fire is the only heating option available.

“The department, through any awareness campaign, should encourage consumers to use Eco-design wood fired appliances as a replacement to open fired fossil systems.”

He said the IrBEA “looks forward to engaging further” with the department as they develop these proposals to regulate the domestic solid fuel market.

The range of options available to homeowners to decarbonise their heating systems where retrofit is prohibitive for various reasons will also be discussed.

Meanwhile, IrBEA CEO Sean Finan said:

“The success of the proposed solid fuel regulations implementation will ultimately depend on the level of resources dedicated to its enforcement and regular monitoring of compliance.

“This needs to be backed up by an effective campaign which encourages consumers to make the move away from fossil fuels sources to renewable options.

“Wood fuels offer homeowners with an opportunity to decarbonise their home heating systems very quickly.

“This needs to be encouraged through government supports and incentives as for many homeowners, the cost of deep-retrofitting is financially and logistically prohibitive,” Finan concluded.