Concerns over change to petrol composition

Councillor Brendan Fay feels the proposed fuel alternative is “not good for classic or older cars”, as well as tools with a two-stroke engine. He also believes it will have a negative effect on any machinery containing fibreglass.

The Independent elected representative says the government should “warn people of the effects of changing over”.

The motion at the March meeting of Cavan County Council was supported by Aontú Councillor Sarah O’Reilly.

The meeting agreed to send a letter to the Minister for Environment and Transport outlining the concerns about petrol having added ethanol moving from E5/E7 to E10.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan announced the move to ‘E10’ as the standard grade of petrol in Ireland last month. Its aim is to help reduce the harmful emissions produced by petrol cars.

E10 petrol is a motor fuel that contains more bioethanol than the current petrol supply in Ireland. By increasing the percentage of bioethanol, less fossil carbon will be used compared to conventional petrol. Ethanol is already in current petrol supply, and E10 will mean that no vehicle changes are needed to get immediate results for the environment.

The Renewable Fuels for Transport Policy Statement 2021 signalled the incentivisation of E10 petrol supply by 2023, which will be mandated shortly in new regulations by the Minister. The move to E10 is one of several transport measures to achieve a 51% reduction in transport emissions by 2030 as outlined in the Climate Action Plan 2023.

Announcing the initiative last month, Minister for Transport, Eamonn Ryan said: “While there has seen a big uptake in EVs, we need to continue with measures that can have an immediate impact on emission from vehicles that are already on Irish roads.

“Measures such as moving to E10 petrol mean that we can reduce our emissions from transport further, move us closer to reaching our Climate targets. It also means that we are in step with Northern Ireland, the UK and many other European countries who have already moved in this direction.”