A recent poll assessing public support for climate action suggests rising support for increased actions towards tackling carbon emissions. Despite the implications of the current pandemic, nearly two thirds of adults in Ireland believe it is critical that the incoming Government places climate change as a top priority.
According to a report by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, wind power has exceeded natural gas as Ireland’s main source of electricity generation for a full quarter for the first time ever.
The city of Dublin has introduced a series of ecological measures with the delivery of a new ‘wilding’ policy to enhance and improve the landscapes and local environment in parks and grasslands. The step changes to reduce mowing and chemical use in parks will enable wildflowers to flourish and support local ecological and habitat development in the city.
According to 2019 reports, ISIF has secured nearly 350 million euros to a number of renewable energy businesses and forestry projects over a five year period, with plans to invest an additional 5oo million euros in the next decade. This includes a major investment into four energy storage projects, including an investment into London-based Gore Street Capital which has current assets in both Wexford and Kildare.
In 1900, Ireland consisted of just 1% forest cover. This has increased to nearly 11%, consisting of nearly 800,000 hectares of forestland. Ireland is now committing to planting an additional 8,000 hectares every year to expand this figure to 18%. This approach to carbon management is focused on a number of reports highlighting that tree planting remains one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways of approaching the climate challenge.
The latest findings on the green economy reportedly exceeded £46 billion, but industry experts have warned that growth needs to be accelerated if the UK is to deliver on its net-zero targets.
Environmental and clean energy campaigners are urging the government to focus more on accelerating the development of green energy projects and services in response to the climate targets of the UK.
A recent report highlights how compared to International companies, domestic businesses are losing touch with climate action. A report into carbon emissions was created by non-profit organisation CDP for Irish-headquartered businesses. Top performing businesses listed in the study, included AIB, Kingspan, Kerry Group, CRH and Smurfit Kappa.
The draft plan includes a ten-year strategy to put a stop to the decline and extinction of species, enabling our ecosystems to recover by 2050.
Governments are expected to implement a new list of biodiversity targets, replacing the previous goals set back in 2010 in Aichi, Japan, of which most have reportedly not been achieved.
Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock explained that climate change is now a decisive factor in business’s long term development and points to sustainable investment plans as a clear option to deliver better results for customers. BlackRock plans to make sustainable investment accessible to all and remove the barriers for those interested in participating in such programs.
Sustainable finance incorporates green bonds, socially responsible investment plans (SRI), environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, climate finance and performance bonds. Sustainable finance has become a focus in “Ireland for Finance”, a core strategy for the development of Ireland’s financial services industry to 2025.
Some of the world’s largest tech businesses are supporting a record rise in the amount of renewable energy sold to corporate businesses last year. Leading technology organisations like Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft are some of the biggest buyers of renewable energy.
The collaborative project ‘Imagining 2050: engaging, envisioning and co-producing pathways to low carbon resilient Ireland’ is focused on defining national issues and exploring how local communities and create a sustainable and socially inclusive future. Researchers are highlighting the combination of social and scientific knowledge, emphasising the connection between the local community experience with scientific knowledge.
According to National Grid, the UK must generate 120,000 green energy jobs by 2030 to support the transition towards a net-zero carbon economy if the government intends to meet its climate targets.
The new report highlights that Britain needs over 100,000 people in the next decade to support the development of new projects and reduce emissions to near zero. This figure is anticipated to rise even further to 400,000 by 2050 when the Government intends to have a clean energy system in place.
Big oil holds a significant slice of our global energy market and despite a worldwide spotlight on climate change, oil and gas will likely remain part of our energy mix for some years to come. Its dominant position in the energy market may be subsiding slightly, oil and gas businesses undeniably have a significant influence on the rate of movement and progress towards a low carbon energy system.
In the next few years, artificial intelligence is anticipated to have a significant impact on enhancing the efficiency of the clean energy industry by automating a number of operational procedures within the solar and wind markets.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), combined with a number of innovative technologies like Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning has already clearly demonstrated their potential to enhance the energy and utility market.
A new study by Wood Mackenzie has predicted that the 2020s will be a new era for the wind industry and will see the offshore wind market’s share of the annual global wind industry reach 25% by 2028. The report suggests that the onshore wind industry will continue to mature and compete further with solar as suppliers seek for further collaboration.
New and innovative technology is being introduced into the industry at an accelerated rate. For clean energy, the new technology represents a number of new and exciting opportunities. Creating the most efficient and cost-effective solar systems requires utilising the best technology available. Industry professionals are now exploring a number of new systems that could be used to radically transform the solar market.
A focus on increasing community participation and support for new solar projects are some of the top priorities for the first Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) recently published. The plans of the first RESS auction have been anticipated by many energy businesses looking to progress on a number of projects, including large-scale offshore wind development to smaller solar developments.
The RESS scheme represents a part of Ireland’s strategy to ensure that 70% of the nation’s energy requirements are derived from renewable energy by 2030. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment state that the initial guidelines and conditions of the first auction include focus support for solar site development.