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Ireland’s energy roadmap — have your say
The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources launched the energy policy green paper for Ireland on May 12, marking the beginning of a ten-week public consultation on the future shape of Ireland’s energy policy.
t is clear that while improvements have been made over the last few years in both energy polices and their implementation, Ireland is still not on track to meet the EU binding target that 16% of all energy consumed within the state be from renewable sources by 2020.
Ireland faces demanding challenges in relation to climate change, energy sustainability, security, and competitiveness. The Irish economy is one based on mainly imported fossil fuel, and steps clearly must be taken towards a more low carbon economy focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy sourced from within Ireland.
According to the presentations given at the green paper launch by Brian Ó Gallachóir, 43% of Ireland’s overall NEEAP 2 (National Energy Efficiency Action Plan) target is to come from the residential sector, which at present is not being met through retrofit measures.
SEAI’s Residential Energy Roadmap published in 2010 outlines possible scenarios to reduce energy consumption and C02 emissions in Ireland’s existing and future housing stock. These include improving building regulations to require increased standards of energy efficiency and increased renewable energy technology deployment in new dwellings, as well as retrofit packages in low, medium & high scenarios, which include various levels of insulation, heating and renewable energy technology upgrades to the existing housing stock.
According to SEAI, the current average energy consumption per dwelling is approximately equivalent to a D rating on the Building Energy Rating (BER) scale. At present space and water heating demand still represents three quarters of the overall residential energy demand and is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels.
Members of the public can engage in the public consultation process on Ireland's future energy policy until the deadline of July 31st 2014 by emailing submissions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The green paper can be found online here.
