Electricity generated from renewable energy sources was up 3% in 2020 when compared to 2019, according to a report published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
In megawatt (MW) terms, this renewable energy totalled 5,077.3MW, which equated to 1,020 watts per capita, according to the CSO.
Today (Tuesday, May 24), the CSO published Ireland’s UN SDGs – Goal 12 Responsible Consumption and Production 2021.
This report is the twelfth in a series of CSO publications, which monitor how Ireland is progressing towards meeting its targets under the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It contains data on 13 indicators for Ireland, divided over three chapters: production; consumption; and sustainability.
One of the main takeaways from the report shows that fossil fuel subsidies were estimated at €2.2 billion in 2020, a decrease of 23% from €2.8 billion in 2019.
In 2000, the first year of the series, total fossil fuel subsidies were estimated at €1.5 billion.
Domestic material consumption (DMC) – the apparent consumption of materials in a national economy – was estimated at 121.7 million tonnes in 2019, which was 3.5 million tonnes higher than in 2018.
Examples of domestic material are biomass, metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals and fossil fuels.
Ireland generated approximately 1.1 million tonnes of food waste in 2019.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates the average Irish household throws out 150kg of food waste each year – at a cost of approximately €700.
Approximately 1.2 million tonnes of Ireland’s municipal waste were recycled in 2019. This resulted in a recycling rate of 37%, down from 38% in 2018.
Commenting on the publication, CSO senior statistician, Kevin McCormack said:
“Data are presented in categories such as gender, age group, vulnerable groups and geographical location, where possible.
“The SDGs and their associated indicators are, by design, wide-ranging in their coverage.
“As a result, the Irish data is provided by a number of sources including government departments, official organisations and international organisations such as the UN.”
This publication was developed in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).