Ireland has reached the halfway point for 2020 renewable energy targets
A new report from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) is heralding the news that going by 2013’s figures, Ireland is at the halfway point of meeting its clean energy targets by 2020.
According to the SEAI’s new report entitled Renewable Energy in Ireland 2013 published today, Ireland’s 2013 renewable energy production contributed 7.8pc of the country’s final energy demand, which would put Ireland almost halfway towards the target set of 16pc under the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) by 2020.
Charting Ireland’s progress over 23 years – between 1990 and 2013 – the report has shown that due to growing awareness among the international community of the effects climate change is having, and would have in the future, steps have been taken to improve the country’s renewable energy output.
Because of this, Ireland’s renewable energy output has increased five fold, with the gross final consumption of renewable energy amounting to the equivalent of 839,000 tonnes of oil.
Unsurprisingly given Ireland’s climate, wind energy was the dominant supplier of renewable energy in Ireland for 2013 accounting for almost half – 47pc – followed by biofuels accounting for 42pc, with the remainder coming from hydro, geothermal and solar.
Progressive steps have also been made with regard to cleaner transport with renewable energies contributing just less than half – 4.9pc – of Ireland’s target with regard to transport.
Speaking of the report, Dr Brian Motherway, CEO of SEAI, said, “Policy is directed towards making best use of our most available and cheapest resources, with no silver bullet. We need to make the right choices for Ireland by developing our energy system in the most cost-effective manner to the benefit of our economy and society. The targets are demanding but achievable; to get there we will need focus, effort and investment.”
