Clean air proposal boosts smokeless market leader Bord na Móna
Bord na Móna, the smokeless fuel market leader in Ireland, says today’s announcement of a 2018 ban on bituminous coal is a boost for the company’s business. Bord na Móna has been a leader in solid fuel for decades and has embraced the migration to smokeless solid fuel in the 25 years since the Dublin ban.
Speaking this morning Bord na Móna Head of Fuels, Eddie Scaife, said “The majority of our fuels business is already smokeless. We supply tens of thousands of Irish households with smokeless products including our iconic briquette as well as firewood and smokeless coal. This announcement supports our substantial investment in this area and is a boost for us as we broaden our offering with new smokeless and low carbon products in the near future.
As well as being market leader we are also leading the way with planned investment in research and development and new infrastructure worth €35million. We will be soon commissioning a new biomass briquette test plant at our factory in Littleton Co Tipperary, with plans to invest a further €10million to scale up production in the next two years. We are also progressing our planning permission for a smokeless coal plant at Foynes, Co Limerick. The Foynes project represents an investment of €25million and will result in 140 construction jobs and 60 new jobs when the facility becomes operational.
While welcoming this announcement, we must recognise that it will be critical that public awareness and information campaigns are invested in to lead consumers to a new solid fuel future. Also important is the role of enforcement by the relevant authorities to ensure compliance. As the leading company employing substantial numbers of people in the development of the smokeless fuel industry we take our role very seriously. We will work closely with other stakeholders, including our customers and trade groups, to make sure Irish consumers continue to receive the premium smokeless products they have grown to expect from us. The Minister indicated that he wants to consult with stakeholders on this and we look forward to engaging with him on all the issues”.