This page provides methodology guidance on reporting sustainable bioenergy. Please note:
- This guidance applies to the reporting of data via SEAI's public sector monitoring & reporting (M&R) system only.
- The verification of bioenergy sustainability is an evolving field and this guidance will be updated as required to reflect this.
- There is different guidance provided for biofuels (transport), bioliquids (heating) and biomass fuels (solid biomass & biogas)
- The net emission of CO2 from the combustion of biogenic carbon in sustainable biomass fuel (including solid biomass, biofuel, bioliquid and biogas) is considered to be zero, as it is assumed that the biomass itself absorbs an equal amount of CO2 during growth as is emitted during combustion, i.e. the CO2 emission factor used in M&R for sustainable bioenergy is 0 kgCO2/kWh.
- Where biomass fuel is not sustainably produced, CO2 emissions from combustion should be counted. This is consistent with guidelines for greenhouse gas reporting, such as the IPCC 2006 Guideline for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories & 2019 refinement and EU Emission Trading System.
- The recast Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU (referred to as RED II) sets out detailed sustainability criteria for different types of bioenergy. Some of these criteria are being updated by the recently revised Renewable Energy Directive 2023/2413/EU (referred to as RED III).
Biofuels are liquid fuels produced from biomass that are used for transport.
In order for a biofuel to be deemed sustainable, it must meet the criteria set out in RED II. One of the criteria is that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission saving from the use of the biofuel must meet certain thresholds. There are also criteria related to land use change and biodiversity.
Biofuel suppliers must be able to demonstrate that specific biofuel consignments placed on the market meet the RED II sustainability criteria. Compliance with the criteria, for transport applications, is undertaken by fuel suppliers via the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which is administered by the National Oil Reserves Agency. Biofuel that is compliant with the sustainability criteria is awarded RTFO certificates.
The following M&R energy types are biofuels or contain biofuels as part of blended products:
- Road diesel (standard spec), which is a standard blend of fossil fuel ('road diesel (fossil)') and small quantities of biodiesel. The percentage blend is calculated by SEAI from statistical data available from the RTFO.
- Petrol, which is a standard blend of fossil fuel ('petrol (fossil)') and small quantities of bioethanol. The percentage blend is calculated by SEAI from statistical data available from the RTFO.
- Biodiesel blend, which is a bespoke blend of fossil fuel ('road diesel (fossil)') and biodiesel. The percentage of biodiesel is specified by the reporting organisation.
- HVO blend, which is a bespoke blend of fossil fuel ('road diesel (fossil)') and hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), which is a form of biodiesel. The percentage of HVO is specified by the reporting organisation.
The M&R guidance with respect to the sustainability of each of these energy types is set out below.
¶ Road diesel (standard spec)
It is assumed that all biodiesel that is blended in standard specification road diesel has been awarded RTFO certificates and is therefore sustainable.
It is assumed that all biofuel that is blended in standard specification petrol has been awarded RTFO certificates and is therefore sustainable.
You should only choose to report a biodiesel blend if you consume a diesel-biodiesel blend that is different from standard specification diesel. You must report the blend rate, which can range from 0-100% biodiesel. Such blends are bespoke procurements, i.e. in order to consume such a blend your organisation has contracted with a fuel supplier to purchase a specific fuel product, which includes a specified percentage of biofuel. Such blends are not generally available via forecourts.
- You must seek written assurance from your supplier that the specific quantities of biodiesel supplied to your organisation meet the RED II sustainability criteria.
- You must only report consumption of biodiesel for which you have such assurance from your fuel supplier.
- You must retain relevant documentation for the purposes of data verification assessment.
- Note that while the RTFO provides a framework through which a supplier can demonstrate that quantities of biofuels placed on the market in Ireland are compliant with the sustainability criteria, there is currently no prescribed format for a supplier to provide assurance to a customer that the biofuel actually supplied to the customer is compliant. Therefore, SEAI recommends that you request your supplier to provide your organisation with a letter/statements setting out the following with respect to specific quantities of relevant supplies of biodiesel in specific year(s):
- “[Fuel supply Co] confirms that it supplied [X] litres of [fuel type], which comprised [renewable fuel type] blended at [Y]% by volume, to [public body] in [year], and that 100% of the renewable fuel component of this fuel supply was issued with RTFO certificates via Ireland’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.”
- Quantities of biodiesel for which your supplier has not provided satisfactory documentation to demonstrate that the fuel supplied to you meets the RED II criteria must be reported as road diesel (standard spec).
Note that this guidance applies for HVO used for transport only.
You should only choose to report a HVO blend if you consume a diesel-HVO blend that is different from standard specification diesel. You must report the blend rate, which can range from 0-100% HVO. Such blends are bespoke procurements, i.e. in order to consume such a blend your organisation has contracted with a fuel supplier to purchase a specific fuel product, which includes a specified percentage of biofuel. Such blends are not generally available via forecourts.
- You must seek written assurance from your supplier that the specific quantities of HVO supplied to your organisation meet the RED II sustainability criteria.
- You must only report consumption of HVO for which you have such assurance from your fuel supplier.
- You must retain relevant documentation for the purposes of data verification assessment.
- Note that while the RTFO provides a framework through which a supplier can demonstrate that quantities of biofuels placed on the market in Ireland are compliant with the sustainability criteria, there is currently no prescribed format for a supplier to provide assurance to a customer that the biofuel supplied to the customer is compliant. Therefore, SEAI recommends that you request your supplier to provide your organisation with a letter/statements setting out the following with respect to specific quantities of relevant supplies of HVO in specific year(s):
- “[Fuel supply Co] confirms that it supplied [X] litres of [fuel type], which comprised [renewable fuel type] blended at [Y]% by volume, to [public body] in [year], and that 100% of the renewable fuel component of this fuel supply was issued with RTFO certificates via Ireland’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.”
- Quantities of HVO for which your supplier has not provided satisfactory documentation to demonstrate that the fuel supplied to you meets the RED II criteria must be reported as road diesel (standard spec).
Bioliquids are liquid fuels produced from biomass that are used for purposes other than transport, including heating.
In order for a bioliquid to be deemed sustainable, it must meet the criteria set out in RED II. One of the criteria is that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emission saving from the use of the bioliquid must meet certain thresholds. There are also criteria related to land use change and biodiversity.
As is the case for biofuels, bioliquid suppliers must be able to demonstrate that bioliquids meet the RED II sustainability criteria. However, unlike biofuels there is currently no formal framework through which suppliers can do so in Ireland. At present, bioliquids used for heat cannot be counted towards Ireland's renewable energy targets.
The only M&R energy type that is a bioliquid is bioLPG blend, which is a bespoke blend of fossil fuel (fossil LPG) and bioLPG. BioLPG is propane manufactured from renewable feedstocks. The M&R guidance with respect to the sustainability of each of these energy types is set out below.
You must report the blend rate, which can range from 0-100% bioLPG. Such blends are bespoke procurements, i.e. in order to consume such a blend your organisation has contracted with a fuel supplier to purchase a specific fuel product, which includes a specified percentage of bioLPG.
- You must seek written assurance from your supplier that the specific quantities of bioLPG supplied to your organisation meet the RED II sustainability criteria.
- You must only report consumption of bioLPG for which you have such assurance from your fuel supplier.
- You must retain relevant documentation for the purposes of data verification assessment.
- Quantities of bioLPG for which your supplier has not provided satisfactory documentation to demonstrate that the fuel supplied to you meets the RED II criteria should be reported as LPG.
Note that because there is currently no formal framework in Ireland through which suppliers can demonstrate that bioLPG used for non-transport purposes complies with the RED II sustainability criteria, the treatment of bioLPG for heat from an M&R methodology perspective should be considered provisional.
There is currently no formal framework in Ireland through which fuel suppliers can demonstrate that HVO used for non-transport purposes complies with the RED II sustainability criteria. Such consumption does not comply with the verification requirements set out in Article 30 of RED II.
Arising from this, at present, the consumption of HVO for heat cannot be counted as contributing towards Ireland’s renewable energy targets. For this reason, at present, the M&R system does not allow the reporting of HVO consumption for non-transport applications.
SEAI is monitoring developments in this field and will review this approach if required.
Biomass fuels are gaseous and solid fuels produced from biomass.
RED II introduced sustainability and verification criteria for biomass fuels from 1 January 2021. Biomass fuels must meet the sustainability and GHG-saving criteria (Article 29 of RED II) if used in an installation above a certain size:
- Total rated thermal input >= 20 MW (to reduce to 7.5 MW as per RED III) for solid biomass fuel
- Total rated thermal input >= 2 MW for gaseous biomass fuel
Biomass fuels consumed in smaller installations are not required to meet the sustainability & GHG-saving criteria.
As with biofuels , the sustainability and GHG status of biomass fuel must be verified in accordance with Article 30 of RED II. In Ireland, verification of biomass sustainability only began in 2023 and only (currently) includes operators of bioenergy-fired electricity generators that participate in support schemes (REFIT). Such generating faculties do not fall within the scope of M&R.
The following M&R energy types are solid biomass or biogas:
- Biogas, which is produced from organic matter through a biological process such as anaerobic digestion.
- Wood chips, which are a renewable fuel comprising small pieces of wood that can be used in boilers for space and water heating.
- Wood pellets, which are a manufactured product comprising wood shavings and sawdust that have been formed into pellets.
- Wood briquettes, which are typically used in some older solid fuel boilers for space and water heating as well as in open fires.
- Other solid biomass, which is a generic energy type that can be used to report other biomass types via M&R.
The M&R guidance with respect to the sustainability of each of these energy types is set out below.
- It is assumed that all biogas consumed prior to 2021 is sustainable.
- It is assumed that all biogas consumed after 2020 in thermal installations <2 MW is sustainable.
- If your organisation consumed biogas after 2020 in thermal installations ≥2 MW, please contact SEAI for further guidance.
- It is assumed that all wood chips consumed prior to 2021 is sustainable.
- It is assumed that all wood chips consumed after 2020 in thermal installations <20 MW are sustainable.
- If your organisation consumed wood chips after 2020 in a thermal installation ≥20 MW, please contact SEAI for further guidance.
- It is assumed that all wood pellets consumed prior to 2021 are sustainable.
- It is assumed that all wood pellets consumed after 2020 in thermal installations <20 MW are sustainable.
- If your organisation consumed wood pellets after 2020 in a thermal installation ≥20 MW, please contact SEAI for further guidance.
- It is assumed that all wood briquettes consumed prior to 2021 are sustainable.
- It is assumed that all wood briquettes consumed after 2020 in thermal installations <20 MW are sustainable.
- If your organisation consumed wood briquettes after 2020 in a thermal installation ≥20 MW, please contact SEAI for further guidance.
- It is assumed that all other solid biomass consumed prior to 2021 are sustainable.
- It is assumed that all other solid biomass consumed after 2020 in thermal installations <20 MW is sustainable.
- If your organisation consumed other solid biomass after 2020 in a thermal installation ≥20 MW, please contact SEAI for further guidance.
- Use input screen choose energy types to select the energy types that your organisation uses or has used.
- Use input screen energy use to self-report annual values for energy consumption.