The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for less solid fuel use in home heating as a means to reduce air pollution.
In a new report covering last year – Air Quality in Ireland 2023 – the agency said Ireland has “work to do” to meet the targets under the Clean Air Strategy, which sets out emission reduction targets for various air pollutants.
The report is based on a monitoring network consisting of 115 monitoring stations reporting hourly.
This number of stations is up from 29 in 2017, the EPA said.
The report said that there are “concerning localised issues” which lead to poor air quality in Ireland.
While it acknowledges that the overall level of air pollution has reduced over recent decades, the EPA said that recent guidance by the World Health Organization (WHO) now advises that there are “no safe levels” of air pollution.
According to the agency, Ireland met current EU legal air quality limits last year, but did not meet WHO air quality guidelines – which are more stringent than those at EU level – for a number of pollutants.
These include particulate matter (microscopic pieces of solid material small enough to be inhaled) as well as the gases nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Ozone (O3).
The EPA’s report said that the main sources of these pollutants are through the burning of solid fuel in towns and villages, and traffic in cities.
The Clean Air Strategy requires Ireland to meet the WHO targets for various pollutants by 2040, with interim targets for 2026 and 2030.
The agency said, based on the 2023 monitoring results, Ireland will exceed the 2026 targets, despite preforming better than many other EU countries.
Particulate matter from solid fuel burning in home heating and NO2 from road traffic are the main culprits in air pollution, according to the report.
High levels of these pollutants are often associated with cold, still weather from late autumn through to early spring, when, generally, incidents of poor air quality of one to two days duration occur.
In the report, the EPA called for using less solid fuel and cleaner fuels to heat homes, and making homes more energy efficient.
It also called for reducing car usage, and for local authorities to facilitate these changes by enforcing solid fuel regulations – which controls the use and sale of solid fuels – and supporting alternatives to car travel by installing and maintaining footpaths and cycle lanes.
Commenting on the report, Dr. Micheál Lehane, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, said: “Air pollution is not just a city phenomenon, there are negative impacts in towns and villages right across the country.
“If we want to achieve our ambition of clean air for everyone, everywhere, all year round, then we need to address the emissions from residential heating and invest in transport systems right across the country,” Dr. Lehane added
Meanwhile, EPA programme manage Roni Hawe called for more stringent enforcement of the solid fuel regulations by upping inspections on retailers.
“In 2022, Ireland introduced new laws to reduce the pollutant potential of solid fuels. We need to see a strong inspection campaign by local authorities this winter to make sure all retailers only stock and sell approved solid fuel,” she said.