Galway City Council has announced it will become the first Local Authority in Ireland to remove road diesel from its larger fleet and will transition to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a renewable fuel source.

HVO eliminates up to 90 per cent of net Carbon Dioxide emissions as well as reducing harmful pollutants such as Nitrogen Dioxide.

Galway City Council are currently in the process of developing its first local authority Climate Action plan. In the plan the Council aims to reduce greenhouse gases on both it's operations and the wider city by 51 per cent by 2030, and become carbon neutral by 2050.

Brian Barrett, Acting Director of Services for Climate Action, said: "A recent survey by Geotab of 21 local authorities found that Galway City Council is in the top three local authorities for electrifying their fleet, with 22% of the fleet already electrified. The phased replacement of smaller cars and vans to electric will continue, and now we are addressing our larger fleet with the switch to HVO. This is a welcome development, and one which will reduce Galway City Councils overall emissions from our transport sector as we strive to meet 2030 targets. HVO is an essential pathway in meeting our Climate targets, and we can see the benefits immediately without any capital costs. HVO is a sustainable and renewable diesel fuel, produced from completely renewable raw materials such as waste animal fats and vegetable oils. In addition, it can be used and handled as a drop-in alternative to fossil diesel and no alterations to pumps or other engines are required."

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Mayor of Galway City, Cllr. Eddie Hoare said: "In 2021 Galway City Council produced 511 tonnes of CO2 Road Diesel transport emissions. When we change over to HVO, this figure will be reduced by up to 90% which means that the Council would only be producing fifty-one tonnes - a reduction of 460 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. This will help us achieve our target of a 51% reduction in transport emissions by 2030".