IRISH FOCUS
A conversation with Kevin McPartlan , Fuels for Ireland
FUELS FOR IRELAND IS UNEQUIVOCABLE IN ITS AMBITION : “ OUR GOAL IS CLEAR : THE MEMBERS OF FUELS FOR IRELAND ARE GOING TO TAKE EVERY STEP NECESSARY TO MAKE NOT ONLY OUR INDUSTRY , BUT ALSO IRELAND , CARBON NEUTRAL BY 2050 .”
Formerly known as the Irish Petroleum Industry Association , Fuels for Ireland rebranded itself in August 2020 after a period considering what the industry body is , in fact , all about .
Kevin McPartlan joined the then Irish Petroleum Industry Association as CEO in 2018 . He worked with members to redefine the vision of the organisation to reflect the shared understanding that the fossil fuels cannot be the basis of Ireland ’ s long-term energy plans , or the basis of the industry ’ s long-term business strategy – an understanding which led to the renaming of the organisation as Fuels for Ireland ( FFI ). Representing fuel importers and distributors and Ireland ’ s only refinery , FFI has acknowledged that its members won ’ t sustain their businesses into the future by selling fossil fuels .
We speak with Kevin to understand what this means for the members and the broader picture of energy consumption in Ireland .
“ The rebrand was much more than a new name and a new logo . It was a reflection of a new understanding that we are not ‘ in the oil business ’. Our members across Ireland work hard every day to power Ireland ’ s economy and society . They are about getting kids to school , people to work , heating homes and businesses and keeping shelves full .
“ The industry is not about defending fossil fuel , even though Ireland has one of the highest dependencies on oil of all the European countries with some counties 75 % reliant on oil for home heating . There are many in rural communities who drive 2.5 times the mileage of core urban dwellers with little by way of community transport options , and 50 % of Irelands energy consumption is
16 Fuel Oil News | October 2021 currently delivered by oil so the challenge is not insignificant .”
A transition is not a single step
“ Legislators only seem to discuss the end of the transition and forget that it is a journey , a process of change . There is a famous joke about asking for directions in rural Ireland with the likely response beginning ; ‘ Well you don ’ t want to be starting from here ’. Beginning with our huge dependency on fossil fuels is not the ideal place to begin a transition to clean energy but it is where we are , and we need to plot the route from here .
“ However strong the imperative to deliver change you can ’ t just turn the taps off overnight and we need plans before bans . Governments only want to talk about the end game and the banning of oil boilers without consideration for the 80-year-old in an old , rural farmhouse who faces a cost of around 35,000 to 60,000 euros to retrofit the property and fit a heat pump with a grant only delivering a third of this . There is also skill shortage in tradespeople making it impossible to retrofit the number of homes targeted even if the money were available .”
However , Kevin believes that FFI is not serving members well if it fails to address the reality : “ Despite this current reliance on fossil fuels , if these distributors have not identified a route to and begun the transition to low or zero carbon liquid fuels in the next 5 to 10 years , they will not have a business . Fossil fuels cannot be the basis of Ireland ’ s long-term energy plans , or the basis of our industry ’ s long term business strategy .”
With 700,000 homes dependant on home-heating oil , how do we reduce emissions ? “ We believe that rather than setting targets for particular technologies we should be setting targets for outcomes , so instead of saying we will install 600,000 heat pumps by 2030 , Government should aim for 600,000 homes with zero-emission heating systems . The focus has to be on overall decarbonisation rather than any specific solution .” 1 Improve the efficiency of current systems 2 Retrofit where possible 3 Use biofuels
Goal obsessed but technology neutral The Irish Government appears to be prioritising particular technologies - with targets such as 1m EVs by 2030 – a target which is looking very unlikely to be achieved and , even if it is , still leaves the majority of vehicles ( 1.7m ) powered by ICE . FFI has noticed that the approach to failure to deliver a target appears to be to simply set a new , bigger one . “ We take a different view . When FFI sets a target – such as that to reduce carbon emissions by 50 % by 2025 in home heating , we stand over it , welcome scrutiny and expect to be held accountable .