Widespread adoption of electric vehicles and deployment of heat pumps to provide heating for buildings “will deliver immediate and longer-term solutions” in tackling Ireland’s carbon emissions.
This is among the main findings of a report issued on Thursday by the ESB, which says it is committed to helping facilitate the changes required to decarbonise the transport and heat sectors, which cause a third of Irish discharges of CO2 and contributes to global warming.
Ireland has committed to reducing by at least 80 per cent of its greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from the energy sector by 2050 – a reduction from 38 million tons of GHG in 2016 to less than six million tons in 2050.
Providing "a decarbonised electricity system powering the heat and transport sectors will address the majority of Ireland's energy emissions and enable Ireland to reduce by around 60 per cent its total emissions", according to the report Ireland's Low Carbon Future – Dimensions of a Solution.
The report recommends that achieving cross-party support for the National Mitigation Plan on cutting Irish emissions should be considered; that all new buildings be required to have zero emissions, and electric vehicles be used in bus fleets and State-owned vehicles.
The report was issued at a conference hosted by the ESB and the Institute of International and European Affairs.
Unsustainable
Minister for Climate Action and Environment Denis Naughten said Ireland's reliance on fossil fuels to meet more than 88 per cent of its energy needs at an annual cost of €5 billion was not sustainable.
“That’s a cost we cannot afford in cash, and which our planet cannot afford at all. If the money that Ireland spends on energy imports can be redirected to energy efficiency and smarter energy services it will replace imported fossil fuels with local jobs and opportunities for Irish companies,” he said.
The European Commission was finalising the move to a clean energy system that would benefit all Europeans by reaping the tangible benefits of access to more secure, clean and competitive energy, he said, that also meets the needs of micro-generation by individuals and communities.
The Better Energy Communities scheme funded by his department and administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland was an example of a Government project revitalising communities – with increased funding of €28 million next year.
“This has brought hundreds of community groups together to take control of their energy usage and make the system work for them with lower bills, warmer homes and local jobs.”
The electricity sector had halved the content of carbon in each unit of electricity since 1990, and was on target to have 40 per cent of its electricity from renewable energy source by 2020, ESB chief executive Pat O’Doherty said. This would create the platform for much greater use of renewable energy in Ireland over the following decade. “In our vision for the future, chimneys will no longer feature on new houses nor exhaust pipes on new cars,” he said.
The ESB report, carried out jointly with Pöyry Management Consulting, is available at esb.ie.
