Biofuel producers claim green fuel usage scheme puts jobs at risk

BIOFUEL producers want the Government to protect jobs by prioritising home-produced fuels over exports under its new green fuel usage scheme.

The IFA is enraged that the new Biofuels Obligation Scheme (BOS) could lead Irish people to buy imported fuels. The IFA argues that the Government’s bid to get Irish motorists to fill their tanks with a blend of 10% biofuel and 90% petrol by 2020, as required by the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive, is pointless if people simply replace one imported fuel with another.

IFA Alternative Land Use project team chairman, JJ Kavanagh, says the failure of the BOS scheme to support indigenous biofuels will lead to widespread job losses and the closure of indigenous biofuel production plants. He said it also undermines the EU’s renewable energy targets.