Fuel supplier Certa has become the first Irish operator to launch a new lower carbon blended biofuel for the home heating market as it continues its strategy of delivering cleaner energy solutions for domestic customers.
Ireland's residential sector currently accounts for 10% of national emissions.
Certa, which is part of DCC, said its new fuel could enable each of the 700,000 Irish households who currently use liquid fuel heaters to lower their home heating carbon emissions by up to 20%.
The newly launched biofuel comprises a 20%/80% blend of HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), which is produced from waste plant matter, and kerosene. Householders can use this instead of home heating oil directly without any need to replace or modify their boilers.
Certa said the new lower carbon fuel will be rolled out across its national network of 23 home heating depots, starting this week with its depot in Tallaght which will supply customers in south and west Dublin and north county Kildare.
Kerosene is the most common fuel used in home heating systems in Ireland. Certa supplies almost 100,000 customers with 265 million litres of home heating fuel each year.
The average household consumes between 1,000 and 2,000 litres of home heating fuel a year.
Orla Stevens, Managing Director of Certa Ireland, said the company's goal is to make it easy for customers to transition to cleaner energy solutions that reduce their carbon footprint.
"Switching to this lower carbon HVO-Kerosene fuel is easy. There is no requirement to upgrade your home heating boiler and it can be done with zero disruption to the household," Ms Stevens said.
Today's launch follows Certa's success in attracting diesel drivers to switch to HVO to reduce their carbon emissions by up to 90%. Last year, it became the first fuel operator to open a fully-fledged HVO fuel station in Liffey Valley and has since become the first to offer HVO at 10 of its forecourts around the country.
Certa has helped a number of businesses and events to lower their emissions and to transition to HVO as a renewable fuel, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), John Sisk & Son Ltd., Dublin Airport, Dublin Port, The National Ploughing Championships, the Irish Open and Bloom.
