Production of e-fuels could create 10,000 Irish jobs
Manager At And Connolly, Simon And Hmi; For Esb Business Future Minister Hogan, Jonathan Coveney, Manager Meadhbh Enterprise, At Senior Opportunities Employment Trade
Creating sustainable aviation fuels from hydrogen for use in commercial aircraft has the potential to create more than 10,500 jobs across Ireland by 2050, according to a new report.
Commissioned by Hydrogen Mobility Ireland (HMI), the report makes recommendations on how the development of a domestic hydrogen ecosystem can facilitate the production of e-fuels for use in aviation and shipping.
In doing so, HMI said the industry would add up to €230m per annum to the Irish economy, increasing to more than €2.1bn by allowing Irish businesses to tap into the global market.
The key recommendations from the report include a sufficient supply of renewable energy to produce the required hydrogen, certainty from the Government on policy commitments to reassure private investors and funding for planned hydrogen and e-fuels projects.
Aviation and maritime provide key connectivity for Ireland, inward and outward.
In the report, launched on Monday by Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney, HMI contends that planning and action for the full decarbonisation of these sectors must begin now.
"Ireland must now signal its own intent in this regard through concrete actions; leveraging the country’s significant wind energy capacity to facilitate the production of e-fuels, allocating sufficient funding to planned and future e-fuels projects and committing to a defined strategy to meet EU e-fuels targets," Jonathan Hogan, business manager at Hydrogen Mobility Ireland said.
"Doing so will enable the growth of a domestic hydrogen and an e-fuels ecosystem which collectively, can create thousands of jobs, decarbonise transport and other industries, and open up access to a thriving global marketplace”.
HMI includes industry members from across the transport and energy industries such as Toyota, Maxol, Energia, Gas Networks Ireland, Bord na Móna, CIE, and ESB.
"Going forward, Ireland is uniquely positioned to export as both a net producer of green hydrogen and as a producer of renewable fuels derived from hydrogen," Mr Coveney said as he launched the report at ESB headquarters in Dublin.
"It is therefore imperative that Ireland’s hydrogen potential is fully realised — and the Government is taking important steps to achieve this."