More than 98% of turf burned in 2020 slipped through carbon tax net

As environment minister Eamon Ryan ponders legal implications of U-turn on smoky fuel, huge black market trade may have made such a rule unenforceable

Machine harvesting of turf in Co Offaly: there’s an internal government row over plans to implement a ban on turf sales next winter as part of a phased ban on all smoky fuels. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Less than 2 per cent of sod turf burned for energy was taxed in 2020, raising questions about the scale of illegal or unregulated trade of the fuel in Ireland.

Figures released to the Business Post from the Revenue Commissioners show that fewer than 8,000 tons of sod turf and milled peat were subject to Solid Fuel Carbon Tax in the latest available year of 2020, in contrast to Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) ...