What your organisation needs to report for energy consumption related to transport in the M&R system.

What should be reported

All fossil and renewable fuel consumption attributable to public bodies for transport (land, water, air) should be included in annual submissions.

Reporting fuel consumption types

Read the information below to find out the best ways of reporting certain transport fuels.

Petrol and diesel

For M&R, this refers to the standard road diesel or petrol used in vehicles.

Record the total amount of litres of fuel used as ‘Road Diesel (DERV)’ or 'Petrol'. Biofuels consumed as part of standard specification diesel or petrol need not be explicitly reported. The system automatically assumes that a small percentage of this consumption is biofuels.

All transport fuels are metered, dispensed and billed in litres. There are several ways to calculate your organisation’s consumption:

  • If your organisation purchases fuels through a fuel card system, this is the easiest way to calculate consumption. You should be able to access all your purchases.
  • If you don’t operate a fuel card system, you can review your bills to determine the number of litres purchased in each transaction. Trip computers on vehicles can also be used to calculate fuel consumption.
  • If your organisation purchases transport fuels in bulk (i.e. dispense at your facility), then you should meter your own dispense point. If you don’t meter this consumption, then you will have to estimate it from your bills. Remember though that the billed quantities for bulk deliveries won’t necessarily match your consumption in a specific year because your tank(s) could have different stock levels at the start and end of the year.

Gasoil (marked diesel)

Gasoil or marked diesel is dyed green in colour and is typically used in boilers for space & water heating. However, it can also be used in vehicles such as agricultural machinery and marine engines.

This should be reported under ‘Marked Diesel (Non-thermal)’ under ‘Transport Fuels (Mineral Oil Fuels)’. It should include all diesel / gasoil consumption in generators, mobile plant, construction machinery, agricultural machinery and marine engines. Only gasoil consumption for thermal applications should be reported under ‘Gasoil’ in the ‘Heating Oils’ section.

If it is not possible to disaggregate these two consumption categories, then the total consumption should be reported in whichever of the above categories dominates consumption, but not in both.

Public bodies should ensure that appropriate systems are in place to record energy consumption data accurately, and that service providers are contractually obligated to provide relevant consumption data to the public body.

Compressed natural gas

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is methane stored at high pressure. CNG is used for some transport applications in place of petrol, diesel or LPG.

CNG is not explicitly listed as a fuel type in the system. There are two alternative options for reporting CNG consumption:

  • If the CNG is dispensed from an onsite fuelling facility supplied through one of your organisation’s GPRNs, then enter the GPRN in the normal way.
  • If the CNG is dispensed from an external gas supply, then contact SEAI using the ‘Suggest Other Energy Type’ function.

For self-reporting CNG consumption, it is appropriate to use the M&R system values for calorific value, primary energy conversion factor and CO2 emission factor for natural gas. Ensure that your units are consistent.

Biofuel

There are three broad categories of biofuel consumption in road vehicles:

  • The vast majority of mineral diesel and petrol contains small blended quantities of biofuels: biodiesel in the case of road diesel and bioethanol in the case of petrol.
  • A very small number of organisations use pure biofuels in dedicated vehicles.
  • Another small group of organisations proactively procure mineral oil products with blended biofuels at blend rates higher than the national average but typically less than about 10%.

Road Diesel (DERV) or petrol blend

For biodiesel consumed as part of a conventional diesel or petrol specification, see 'petrol and diesel' above.

Pure blends

For biodiesel consumed as pure biodiesel (100%), you should record this consumption in litres as ‘Pure Biodiesel’. Pure bioethanol should be reported the same way under ‘Pure Bioethanol’.

Non-standard biofuel blends

For biodiesel consumed in a blend other than road diesel, record the total consumption in litres as a ‘Biodiesel Blends other than standard spec DERV’. Record the percentage biodiesel contained in the blend. Bioethanol blends should be reported in the same way under ‘Bioethanol Blends other than standard spec Petrol’. If you use biofuels for non-transport purposes (e.g. in a boiler), then you should contact SEAI using the ‘Suggest Other Energy Type’ function.

You will have only consumed a pure or non-standard biofuel blend if your organisation has specifically asked for one (i.e. specifically procured such a blend). Therefore, the sales documentation should state the relevant quantities.

For pure blends, you can review your bills to determine the number of litres purchased in each transaction.

Marine transport fuels

The vast majority of marine engines use either:

  • Marked diesel / marine gasoil, which is the same as gasoil but is different from marine diesel oil.
  • Ordinary petrol (also known as gasoline, motor gasoline or motor spirit) is used in some smaller marine engines.

You can report this under the relevant fuel type in the system. If your organisation uses other fuels for marine transport (e.g. marine diesel oil), you should contact SEAI using the ‘Suggest Other Energy Type’ function.

Aviation transport fuels

There are two main types of aviation fuels:

  • Aviation Gasoline (AVGAS) is motor gasoline that has been processed especially for use in aviation reciprocating engines.
  • Jet A1 Kerosene, which is also known as jet fuel or jet kerosene, is used for aviation gas turbine engines (turbofans, turboprops and jets).

You can report this under the relevant fuel type in the system - 'Jet A1 Kerosene (Aviation)' or 'Aviation Gasoline (AVGAS)'.

Further information

In the unlikely event that an energy type that your organisation uses is not included in the reporting template, you should use the ‘Suggest Other Energy Type’ option. You will be prompted to enter several items of data for this new energy type, including:

  • Name of the energy type
  • The reporting units
  • The conversion factor from the reporting units to kilowatt-hours (kWh) on a net calorific basis
  • The CO2 emission factor for the energy in kgCO2/kWh
  • The primary energy conversion factor

Refer to the lists of conversion factors for the standard energy types for factors for similar fuels. It is important that you enter the conversion factors in the correct units. Click 'Submit' to send your suggestion to SEAI for review.