Sustainable Energy
Sustainable energy policy encompasses environmentally and economically sustainable production, supply and use of energy, across all sectors of the economy including public bodies, the business sector, local communities and individual consumers.
It entails improving energy efficiency, advancing the development and competitive deployment of renewable sources of energy and reducing the environmental impact of energy production and use, particularly in respect of greenhouse-gas emissions. Success for Ireland will mean reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels and greater security of supply.
The strong link between economic activity and energy usage is instructive, highlighting the centrality of energy to economic growth. It is critical that the recent return to economic growth is not matched by a corresponding growth in energy demand. The two must be fundamentally decoupled so that Ireland’s future economic successes are not undermined by deteriorating environmental patterns and unsustainable energy usage.
Renewable Energy
The EU’s ambition is to see our energy systems substantially decarbonised by 2050, which requires rapid growth of all forms of renewable energy. European Commission proposals for 2030 include higher ambition for both decarbonisation and renewable energy deployment. Renewable energy offers the possibility of greatly enhanced energy independence for Ireland, keeping billions of euros in the economy and giving us greater control over costs. Ireland’s use of renewable energy has been growing steadily in recent years. Strongest growth has been in wind energy.
This is because Ireland has an excellent wind resource and can produce electricity from wind at the lowest cost in Europe. SEAI’s detailed analysis has confirmed that, in the past five years, our use of renewables in electricity, predominantly wind, has reduced fossil fuel imports by more than €1 billion. Importantly, wind does not add to consumer prices in Ireland, in fact in recent years, the evidence shows that when gas prices have been high wind has actually lowered consumers’ bills.
There is clear evidence that wind energy is positive for Ireland as a whole, but it must be exploited in an appropriate and acceptable manner. Our policy should be based on firm factual evidence, and good planning, local consultation and local benefit are all essential elements. Bioenergy is a very important sector for Ireland as it can exploit our agrarian strengths and divert money into local supply chains. Applying our bioenergy resources to heat is a particular opportunity, as so much of our building stock remains dependent on expensive, polluting liquid fuels for their heating. The government will shortly publish a new bioenergy strategy. SEAI’s detailed analysis of bioenergy resources and costs indicates that delivering our 2020 renewable heat target will serve to divert €200m annually into local fuel supply chains. One renewable source that has not gained much traction to date in Ireland is solar electricity.
However, dramatic reductions in prices globally mean there may be potential now to see growth in this area, bringing the benefit of further diversification of our renewable supplies. In the longer term, marine energy technologies such as wave energy offer huge potential for Ireland, both for energy and enterprise reasons. However, it will be a number of years before such technologies are at a point of being able to make a contribution to our energy mix.
The current focus of renewable energy policy is on meeting Ireland’s 2020 targets. This will entail between 2,000MW and 2,500MW of additional wind capacity, i.e. approximately a doubling of current capacity. The targets also require a doubling of the use of bioenergy for heat, and increasing the renewable content of transport energy from 4% to 10%, largely through the use of biofuels.
Delivering our Green Potential is the Government’s Policy Statement on Growth and Employment in the Green Economy in Ireland.
It is estimated that up to an additional 10,000 jobs could be created in certain green economy activities in Ireland by 2020 – not including the potential that exists in green financial services, agriculture, marine or tourism.
Energy now ranks alongside Pharmaceuticals and Information Technology as one of the key growth sectors of the Irish economy.
As the new technologies are rolled out into production it is likely that many more businesses will be involved (as can already be seen in the more mature industries of wind and solar energy production). This also applies to so called smart technologies used in applications such as energy management systems and intelligent heating and lighting controls, all of which will draw upon the country’s ICT expertise.
The opportunities for careers in this sector are likely to expand greatly from the original technology based roles to include many more career paths not only in production but also in finance, economics, sales and marketing.
The roles will be based in specialist niche companies as well as larger multinational energy companies. The consulting and business fields are also likely to provide many opportunities for graduate careers.
Energy issues have never been more central in societal discourse. The scientific certainty of the climate change crisis is growing and there is widespread consensus on the imperative to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The European Commission has given clear indications of its intent with respect to renewable energy and carbon emission targets to 2030 which will require resolute action by Ireland in respect of both energy efficiency and renewables.
Enterprises are striving to be more competitive while Ireland seeks an increased deployment of renewables to reduce its dependency on imported fossil fuels. The accelerating demand for skilled personnel in the sustainable energy industries has created and will continue to create many career opportunities.
The value of the Irish market for environmental goods and services was estimated by Forfas at €2.8 billion with over 6,500 people employed in the sector. A report from the High-Level Group on Green Enterprise highlighted the potential to create over 80,000 jobs in the coming years.
Enterprise pervades all aspects of sustainable energy policy and programmes. This extends from protecting all existing jobs by helping firms become more energy efficient, to exploiting the many emerging opportunities for new technologies and services in the sustainable energy sectors. Sustainable energy issues are also rapidly becoming important elements of foreign direct investment decision making.
It is a sector which is expanding very rapidly both in terms of technology advancements and the skills and manpower needed to sustain and drive it. Our Universities and Institutes of Technology have reacted with the development of many new training courses and students who are qualified in this specialist area have good career prospects.
To meet the current and expected increase in jobs, trained staff are needed at the technical, trade and professional levels with the knowledge and skills to develop, promote and implement new methods of sustainable energy production, and improve the efficiency of existing systems and appliances.
They need training in a wide range of knowledge areas including the social, environmental, economic, technical and scientific aspects of energy generation in a sustainable manner.
