The recent Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) review of residential heat decarbonisation in Ireland painted such a negative picture of retrofitting your home that I fear it will kill public confidence.
Just when we most need to shift away from imported fossil fuels, it seems to be undermining the case for greater energy efficiency, which has to be the first response.
The report found that Ireland’s progress towards decarbonising residential heating was “significantly behind target”, with deep retrofits and heat pump installations reaching just 11.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent of 2030 goals by the end of 2024.
It is good that public policies are held to account by critical economic analysis, but reading the review you would think there has been no progress at all, which is simply not the case. Such a negative perspective can create the belief that change is beyond us, which only serves those who benefit from the status quo.
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In truth we have shown that decarbonisation is possible and that it brings real gains not only for the environment but also for the economy and for lowering household bills.
The analysis published by Professor Brian Ó Gallachóir in this newspaper last week shows that Ireland will be within 99 per cent of meeting its first carbon emissions budget for the five years between 2021 and 2025. The energy sector in particular is on track, even with delays in the planning system unnecessarily holding back renewable power.
Meeting the second budget up to 2030 will be much more difficult as we have to go a lot further, and the Government and administrative system seem to be losing their appetite for change. This ESRI report is going to make that task all the harder by creating a public narrative that retrofitting is failing – or makes little difference even when you get it done.
Neither of those assertions is true. While you can never be complacent, the reality is that deep retrofitting of our domestic buildings increased tenfold between 2019 and 2024. The latest review for the European Commission puts us as the number one country in Europe when it comes to improving domestic energy efficiency levels.
It is a similar story with domestic heap pumps, the installation of which has tripled over the same period. We need to go further, but we are starting from a base where we are fourth best in the EU league table for the sale of heat pumps.
As Sadhbh O’Neill wrote in The Irish Times at the weekend, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) retrofitting grants may not always be the best option, particularly when it comes to very old buildings. That reality has been recognised with initiatives that bring in architectural and engineering advice at the start of such difficult jobs.
One of the other complaints over the years has been that SEAI was too bureaucratic in approving everything. But this does at least mean we can show proper standards were applied and the costs and complexities involved were never denied or ignored.
The Building Energy Rating (Ber) system which underpins the whole process has to be constantly refined and improved, but it has been widely adopted by the Irish public. It will be a shame if the ESRI report undermines that.
What is even worse is that, not for the first time, the institute seems to be advocating for the greater use of natural gas in response to the climate and energy challenges we face. That cannot be where we go next. We have to replace one million existing oil boilers as they come to the end of their lives, but using more gas would be madness and the other biofuels they suggest as alternatives are limited in supply and will be needed in the transport and industrial sectors.
Wood-fired systems will have a role, but most of Ireland’s housing will in future be warmed by using heat pumps, which when run by clean renewable power in a flexible and balancing electricity market are the best way of lowering domestic energy costs.
It has to be a just transition and the carbon tax has a vital role in this regard. More than half of the roughly €1 billion in revenue being raised is going back to the public as retrofitting grants. More than half of that goes as 100 per cent grants for those on low incomes. It is a progressive policy measure that works. If applied consistently over many years, we can improve our housing stock, making sure no one is left behind in cold, damp and unhealthy homes.
That’s the ultimate test which the ESRI seems to ignore. If you ask Irish householders who have carried out retrofitting work what they seem to value most, it is the greater comfort and health benefits that come from living in a cosy home. The payback also comes when you get to sell the house and the market pays a higher price for a home fit for the future.
The vast majority would not go back to the old ways. Nor should we – no matter what the ESRI says.
