The ban on smoky coal in Ireland – the first in Europe, will come into force in Autumn 2019, but remember you’ll still be able to burn smokeless coal and there will be plenty of availability to meet demand. CPL Fuels Ireland, the country’s leading coal supplier and owners of the Homefire brand, is investing €22 million in a new fully automated Grade 1 smokeless coal ovoids plant in Foynes, County Limerick. The plant will also eventually move to the pre-treatment of a biomass which will be designed into the smokeless fuel product recipes of the future. The smoky coal ban comes into effect incrementally, starting at the beginning of the 2018 heating season, allowing 12 months to deplete existing smoky coal stocks. When a similar ban was introduced in Dublin in 1990 it is believed that the improvement in the city’s air quality resulted in some 350 fewer premature deaths. There are no plans at present to ban smoky coal in Northern Ireland.