Despite Ireland’s commitment to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 4.8% per annum under the carbon budgets, energy-related emissions were up 5.4% last year, according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
Emissions related to energy are now back at the same level as in 2019 after a temporary reduction due to Covid-19 restrictions, the SEAI said.
In the first year of Ireland’s first legally binding carbon budget (2021-2025), emissions trended in the “complete opposite direction”, director of research and policy insights with SEAI, Margie McCarthy said.
Therefore, McCarthy said it will be even more challenging to stay within the carbon budget in the following years as this trend is set to continue based on early 2022 data.
“We need to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy technologies to levels yet unseen here in Ireland. Importantly, we also need to drastically increase sustainable energy practices to curtail demand across all sectors of the economy.
“Reducing our use of energy and making the transition to renewable energy technologies are essential in our collective response to this, and ultimately to deliver our national climate action goals,” according to McCarthy.
Ireland’s current level of fossil fuel use must urgently be limited, the SEAI said. Last year, total energy supply increased by 3.6% compared to 2020 figures, of which 87.1% was derived from fossil fuels.
Renewable energy
While the overall renewable energy share remained unchanged at 13.6% last year, Ireland’s indigenous production of renewables was higher than its indigenous production of natural gas, the SEAI said.
The share of renewable energy for electricity stood at 37.9% in 2021, which is down from 39% in 2020, mainly due to low wind conditions, the report shows.
Low wind generation led to a higher use of coal and oil for electricity, which increased its carbon intensity by 11.9%, according to the SEAI.
Over 700,000 homes rely on oil for heating and over 4,000 homes were newly added to the gas network last year, which maintains the buildings sector’s dependence on fossil fuels, according to the report.
The share of renewable energy in electricity needs to be doubled in the next eight years, while simultaneously increasing overall electricity supply, to meet the 2030 target of 80% of electricity from renewable sources under the Climate Action Plan, the SEAI said.