From 2022 to Now and What Comes Next.
In 2022, Ireland made a promise: cleaner air, stronger health, and fuels that respect the land they come from. The Solid Fuel Regulations (S.I. No. 529/2022) changed everything, ending the retail and online sale of unapproved smoky fuels nationwide, including wet wood (≤2 m³) and turf sold through shops or websites, while allowing traditional turf cutting and use under turbary rights to continue.
For the first time, every bag, box, and briquette had to meet real environmental standards. It was a turning point not just for the industry, but for anyone who lights a fire at home. Three years on, the story continues to evolve.
What’s Changed in 2025?
The year brought more fine-tuning than upheaval and a renewed focus on enforcement. The planned tightening of sulphur (from 2% to 1%) and wood moisture (from 25% to 20%) content has been deferred.
Under S.I. No. 76/2025, the 1% sulphur limit will now take effect on 1 September 2030, subject to a market review. Under S.I. No. 389/2025, the 20% moisture limit for 100% biomass fuels sold in units ≤ 2 m³ will now apply from 1 September 2026. These adjustments give suppliers more time to adapt while ensuring cleaner fuel producers stay well ahead of the curve.
In July 2025, the Government approved and introduced the Air Pollution (Amendment) Bill 2025, now before the Oireachtas. The Bill strengthens local-authority powers to investigate and fine sellers of non-compliant fuels and aims to close loopholes that allowed illegal coal and turf trading to persist.
The EPA continues to highlight domestic solid-fuel burning as Ireland’s largest source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Government data in 2022 linked around 1,300 premature deaths each year to smoke from home heating. By 2025, EPA and European Environment Agency reports estimate more than 1,700 premature deaths per year in Ireland are attributable to air pollution, overall a sobering reminder of what’s at stake.
These aren’t just numbers, they’re the difference between a clear sunrise and a smoky one, between coughing through winter and breathing easy. Cleaner burning quite literally saves lives.
The Power in Your Hands.
At ECOFUEL™, we’ve always believed better fires start with better choices. Since 2014, you our customers, have helped build a movement that’s changing how Ireland burns wood. Every time you choose a cleaner, EPA-registered fuel, you’re voting for clearer skies, healthier homes, and forests that keep standing.
It’s your choices that make the 2022 regulations matter. Because rules alone don’t clean the air, people do.
What to Know When You Buy.
Ireland’s solid-fuel standards are law, not guidelines. Every fuel sold in Ireland must be EPA-registered under the national Solid Fuel Register, publicly available at epa.ie.
It must be properly packaged and labelled, including the exact wording “Contents comply with the Air Pollution Act Regulations” and the EPA producer registration number. That same number must appear on all marketing materials, websites, and trade documentation.
If a product doesn’t meet those standards, it isn’t just bad practice; it’s illegal.
What’s Ahead?
Ireland’s Clean Air Strategy is gathering pace. By 2030, lower sulphur limits, stricter moisture rules, and tougher air-quality targets will push the industry further toward renewable, carbon-neutral fuels. For companies like ours, that’s not a challenge; it’s a compass.
We’ll keep designing fuels that burn hotter, cleaner, and with purpose. We’ll keep sourcing from forests that heal what we use. Each purchase still helps restore native woodland through our 1% for the Planet partnership because better air starts with better forests.
No fuel is impact-free, but every step toward cleaner burning means fewer forests cut carelessly and fewer nights clouded by smoke. Behind every regulation is something bigger: the right to breathe clean air.
When we breathe cleaner air together, the story writes itself one fire, one home, one choice at a time.
Better fires. Stronger forests. Cleaner air together.
