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IN THE FACE of growing global demand for energy, there are serious economic and geopolitical implications from energy dependence, as we have seen in recent weeks with a very high proportion of Europe’s gas requirements coming from Russia via Ukraine. Currently 85 per cent of Ireland’s energy is imported, over 90 per cent of which is fossil fuels. It is essential that Ireland, along with other EU countries, becomes both more energy efficient and energy independent. Unconventional shale gas extraction, often referred to as ‘fracking’, is an option that requires serious discussion in this context.
Fracking consists of drilling and the injection of large volumes of fracking fluids at high pressure to create fractures in layers of impermeable rock to release the shale gas contained within. As a result, it has a considerably larger environmental footprint and uses greater volumes of water than conventional gas drilling and extraction methods.
In terms of benefits, various reports conclude that fracking can have positive impacts in terms of jobs and economic activity, and also that fracking can assist with the transition towards a low carbon economy. For there to be any climate benefits, however, two conditions must be met. Firstly, naturally occurring methane must be captured during the process, as methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Secondly, the gas produced must replace imported coal and gas, not lower carbon, renewable options such as onshore and offshore wind and biomass, or domestic gas supplies.
While unconventional gas has reduced gas prices in the US, it is unlikely to have as much of an impact on gas prices in Ireland and across the rest of the EU. The most significant potential economic benefit of fracking from an Irish perspective is security of energy supply.
For many, the jury is out when it comes to developing and extracting our shale gas reserves through fracking. There are a number of gaps in the Irish and EU regulatory framework at present which will need to be addressed before Ireland takes any further steps in the direction of fracking.
The EU Commission had promised a Directive on Unconventional Gas Exploration and Extraction, but at the end of January it published a Recommendation and Communication which will act as a guide to regulators and decision-makers, but is not binding legislation. The Commission has promised to keep the situation under review and introduce legislation after 18 months if it becomes necessary for the protection of the environment and human health. On 12 March 2014 the European Parliament formally dropped the requirement for mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment for all unconventional gas exploration and extraction activities, under pressure from countries such as the UK and Poland.
Domestically, Ireland has quite strict standards with regard to the requirements for Environmental Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment of projects which may have a significant effect on the environment and on protected habitats and species, but it is probably fair to say that the system for granting exploration licences and leases for the extraction of gas is not fit for purpose when it comes to fracking, and there are also gaps in the planning and environmental licensing processes.
For example, the Petroleum and Minerals Development Act 1960 has been subject to a number of amendments, but none of those amendments envisaged fracking. The impact on local landowners from fracking is far more significant than it would be under conventional methods of extraction. Rights of access to privately owned lands on the grant of a petroleum lease may be deemed unconstitutional if exercised in the manner envisaged under the 1960 Act in relation to large areas of land in private ownership. The regulatory system for the abstraction of surface and ground waters must also be updated, and must provide for charges which reflect the full economic and environmental cost of the water use.
The Environmental Protection Agency, on behalf of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency are commissioning an extensive research programme on the environmental impacts of unconventional gas exploration and extraction, including identification of regulatory gaps and best environmental practices. In the meantime, a number of companies have expressed interest in securing permission to carry out exploratory drilling and extraction, assuming shale gas reserves prove commercially viable.
One of the difficulties is that, to date, there has been a lack of coherent national energy plan in which the various energy options, from oil and gas, nuclear, wind energy and other renewables, interconnection and energy efficiency are identified, described and assessed in an integrated manner against key objectives, to include security of supply, sustainability, affordability, decarbonisation, competitiveness, environmental protection and human health.
According to a new report ‘Saving water with wind energy’ published by the European Wind Energy Association in March 2014, the use of water must be factored into energy planning, with wind energy having the least impact on valuable water resources when compared with nuclear and thermal electricity generation. Energy planning must also take into account the concept of intergenerational equity, ie the impact on today’s population as well as future generations, as required under the Aarhus Convention.
The lack of a plan-led approach has led to ad hoc decision-making at a national and local level, and a lack of Strategic Environmental Assessment of the various options, in line with EU law. This in turn can lead to an information vacuum, loss of trust and anxiety on the part of the public and uncertainty for investors. The focus naturally turns to local issues, local politics, nimbyism and a lack of vision in terms of national interest.
There are a myriad of issues to be investigated and resolved before fracking could be developed in Ireland, but at some point in the very near future a choice must be made on Ireland’s energy mix. Unless we have an open and honest discussion on the limited number of choices available to us and the risks and rewards of each option, we will remain entirely at the mercy of global forces for almost all of our energy requirements.
Alice Whittaker is a partner in Philip Lee Solicitors, and head of the firm’s Environment and Climate Group. Clients include the SEAI, Irish Offshore Operators Association (oil and gas), offshore and onshore wind farm developers, biomass companies and local authorities. Follow her on Twitter @WhittakerAlice
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An open and honest discussion should include the ESBs plans to export electricity to the U.K. If we are generating enough electricity to export it, then how on earth can there be an energy shortage in this country?
Patricia…now there is a comment that deserves thumbs up.
It appears that transparency on this issue is non existent.
Becoming an energy exporter means we become energy independent.
My thoughts exactly, Patricia.
A reason to export energy is just supply and demand, It simple enough really. We already import and export daily from the UK, 500 MW out of an average demand of 3400MW so quite a bit of energy. If for example we have excess energy generated that is not needed due to low demand we could export the excess.
Since when is the exportation of goods a bad thing?
I would hope people realise that we as a country are export dependent. The agricultural industry is often for export and is planning on growing its export. Nobody considers this a bad thing. Why can not the energy industry can create a similar situation.
There is no plan for large scale exports at the moment. The midlands project has been shelved.
There is a plan for greater interconnection which could facilitate the import and export of electricity from Ireland. Ireland has the worst interconnection in Europe because we are an island off the west coast. We need more interconnection to help reduce costs and keep the lights on.
Ireland needs to generate 40% of electricity from renwables by 2020 so that 16% of our energy usage is from renewable sources. These are legally binding target we have agreed to hit. Global warming is a thing. Germany has lots of interconnection and imports energy from France when the wind isn’t blowing. They otherwise would have to build standby plants.
Ireland can either keep standby plants ready costing hundreds of millions a year and pushing up bills or it can import electricity from the UK and France when the wind isn’t blowing. We could also sell electricity to the UK if we have a surplus at certain times of the day.
If anyone has any better ideas they are free to talk to energy regulator or government. Reducing carbon emissions as cheaply as possible is the goal.
ESB don’t plan on exporting. The midlands project includes a private company building their own interlinks.
We can’t rely on wind to generate our baseload. Just look at the historical data for wind on Eirgrids website. You’ll see how much it fluctuates.
We need constant and predictable generation. So a CCGT or similar can provide this.
Why are the Germans building Lignite plants at the moment?
It’s to do with the European Internal Energy Market. All EU countries are signed up to this.
Ireland’s attitude to renewables is disappointing. It seems to me that wind has a very large lobby behind it and wind power has almost reached its peak in terms of practical onshore sites.
Fracking uses copious amounts of water with carcinogenic causing chemicals.
the US has fracking in sparsely populated areas.
Ireland with its one of houses dotted around would make fracking incredibly hard to get past any inevitable objections.
I think biogas, solar, offshore wind and wave is the way to go.
Biogas plants can be tucked away in industrial sites and on farms producing electricity or bio-methane for trucks, buses etc.
There are many potential sources of sustainable energy available to Ireland. Often not considered are geothermal generation and algal biofuels.
It is almost impossible to know which source or combination of sources will be commercially and environmentally sustainable going forward. This is a problem that should be resolved through the market, but the energy industry in Ireland is too centralised and with to many vested interests to allow this.
A more decentralised model like that being developed in Malmo, Copenhagen, London and Syndney would allow alternative energy sources to be more readily deployed as long as they were viable and allow the energy industry to develop and evolve.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/london-2062/documents/DecentralisedEnergy
There are many potential sources of sustainable energy available to Ireland. Often not considered are geothermal generation and algal biofuels.
It is almost impossible to know which source or combination of sources will be commercially and environmentally sustainable going forward. This is a problem that should be resolved through the market, but the energy industry in Ireland is too centralised and with to many vested interests to allow this.
A more decentralised model like that being developed in Malmo, Copenhagen, London and Syndney would allow alternative energy sources to be more readily deployed as long as they were viable and allow the energy industry to develop and evolve.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/london-2062/documents/DecentralisedEnergy
David,
We have plenty of stories here in the US about citizen farmers living on land where fracking occurs, and the devastation to their crops, land, water supplies, machinery and livestock, not to mention health problems they and their children suffer. And, we’ve seen a significant increase in earthquakes in fracking areas, an increase in sink holes, leaching of methane into the atmosphese from fracking wells, and more.
As one with a bit of Irish blood in my veins, and a sincere love for our home country, I would encourage the GREATEST of caution before any energy company is licensed to start messing with our planet in ways we can’t see, and with the unknown consequences of future damage. There are many alternative ways to produce energy that are far safer and more sustainable than fracking up our environment.
Decentralized energy doesn’t work. If people want to go off grid that is fantastic.
But they can’t pay nothing towards maintaining the grid and backup powerplants but expect it to be there when they can’t generate their own. Their needs to be a charge to cover the cost of maintaining all the power plants and grid which would almost never be used but would be needed at a moments notice. It would be a few hundred or maybe a thousand on everybodys bills.
If anyone seen the award winning Gasland documentary would be totally against fracking in Ireland, and if we did frack I bet any money that gas prices would stay the same if not rise
Gasland has been debunked.
The people lighting the water from their taps were able to do that before fracking came to their areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FrackNation
We need an honest debate on this.
Bob, you can’t dismiss something’s credibility and then reference Wikipedia
Brian Magee, Wikipedia might be OK; the problem is he references ‘FrackNation’, which is an industry sponsored hit job.
And for sure, Bob hasn’t made his own investigation as to natural occurence of methane in water. He’s comfy with what he’s been told.
The west coast of Ireland has the capacity to provide all the energy needs of the country if not much of Western Europe were it to be properly harnessed and developed.
But the indecent incestuous relationship between Irish political parties and multinational energy companies has stifled and smothered all attempts at developments of this nature.
Even worse as the ongoing scandal of the Corrib gas fields show, the politicians of Ireland are happier giving away our resources than making any effort to use them for the benefit of the state and the citizens they are supposed to serve.
Fracking is the energy equivalent of financial deregulation.
The short term gain that financial deregulation provided to a small number in Irish society has been dwarfed by the horrific consequences that will have to be carried for generations.
Similarly with fracking, a small number will benefit in the short term and then they will be gone.
The social and environmental consequences will last generations and again the costs will be horrendous if it is allowed to happen.
Don’t be fooled by fancy soft toned articles like this, when your houses and properties disappear under your feet and become valueless the author will be miles away.
The easiest way to avoid such a calamity is to prevent it happening in the first place.
I believe they are going to change the name of Sea Weed to Sea Veg………apparently it sounds better!
Garry,
What a ridiculous piece of rubbish – long on innuendo and short on facts – wonder what world you live in ? You should be careful as something good might happen for you one day but you won’t know as you will be hiding to avoid a calamity.
A poisoned water table that sickens people for miles, and water that burns straight from the tap, just wait and see how quickly our overlords usher in big oil if they think there’s anything down there.
Peak oil is behind us.
Shale gas and tar sands are just temporary substitutes for new oil field discovery.
The fire water connected to fracking was a myth. Proven too
Frack off! There’s a lot to be said for nuclear energy you know.
Did you mention Nuclear Energy – you must be joking – as a certain churchman said – Never , Never , Never.
and certainly No to cracking also.
Plenty of alternatives , with solar and wind power .
Has anyone seriously looked at Thorium reactors – versus Uranium reactors. All my research indicates Thorium could be a massive source of energy with virtually none of the problems Uranium creates. Take an unbiased look at it. You might be pleasantly and positively surprised.
Its being looked at alright, especially in India & a few universities globally.
But so far the are not yet at the point where energy outputs are economically viable yet.
Nobody really knows the ramifications of fracking- water supply, pollution dangers – insane to jump into this without surety.
Imagine any one stupid enough to blow up a small island. Fracking is the essence of self distruction. But then again I never liked leitrim anyway!!!!
Actually, ramifications of fracking are well understood.
It can be done badly and it can be done safely.
Options licenses were granted for 12 counties (not just Leitrim) in one of the last acts of the FF/GP. Coincidentally the man who issued those licenses, Conor Lenihan is now employed by the Gas industry including Fracking company San Leon.
What happened to the oil allegedly residing off our coast?
That Oil was pledged to the EU when we joined it…..just like our Fishing grounds.
It doesn’t exist.
Barrels of oil sold from Irish waters = Zero.
Like the fishing….you won’t know until you throw your nets in the water, if you’ll catch anything……but having the right to do so in the first place is a good start.
Already done.
Many a test oil well was dug….. None proved to have the quantities viable for extraction.
So the government are hung for not charging more for resources that don’t exist.
We supposedly have the most generous exploration terms in the world but have very few companies will to take advantage of them – I wonder why that is?
Decades of exploration off of Ireland and it still hasn’t resulted in the commercial extraction of a single barrel of oil. I’m all in favour of exploiting any and every energy source available, including renewables, but fossil fuels are still the main source of energy.
If fracking can provide Ireland with a good proportion of its energy needs, so be it. Maybe it will take a big energy shock like the 70′s oil rise again to make Irish people how precarious their position is.
Indeed.
Paddy needs a shock.
Its apalling when some imported crusties from the UK & the usual NIMBY farmers can block access to the only good natural gas field Ireland has in Mayo.
Currently it’s not financially viable to extract
The article is about Government failings and unclear legislation which may be unconstitutional. Corrib is what happens when Government makes a complete hames of things, without due process.
Even where there are clear rules to follow the EPA appears incapable of following them.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/revised-licence-for-shell-gas-terminal-at-ballinaboy-quashed-1.1561667
With respect to Shale Gas Options licences – it would appear that no Petroleum Prospecting Licences were issued – a clear breach of the terms and conditions of the licensing process.
http://thegasmancometh.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/no-petroleum-prospecting-licences-issued-for-shale-gas-companies-in-republic-of-ireland/
I think you have your answer there. There are no reserves in Lough Allen basin. Fracking celebrated its 65th birthday the other day. Some of the wells in lough allen basin were fracked in 2002/3. Not enough gas flow. The basin is very shallow – so less gas flow, and more risk of contamination. Its heavily faulted so seismic problems. Its the home of two large river systems – the Shannon and the Erne with complex hydrology.
Proper regulation of fracking in Ireland is you don’t do it.
EPA spending millions on finding this information out apparently.
The original Aberdeen report is flawed – as virtually all papers referenced have got issues with either funding from oil and gas industry, or poor scholormanship (ie statement of Opinion as fact). http://public-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/industry_partner_or_industry_puppet.pdf
What do we want? A healthy environment or reasonable energy prices? We can’t have both in this counter. You can thank your local councillor for that
Why don’t we exhaust the avenue of making people change their energy usage habits first? Create an award system for people who can prove they have reduced their consumption – and continue to do so! Like Irish Water – why is it it we had to prove just how inefficient we are – as a precursor to setting up an elaborate entity costing hundreds of millions. If we used less in the first place it wouldn’t have to be as urgent to reform! The trouble with setting up anything in Ireland – that ‘initially’ makes good economic sense is – it turns into a farce.
padser , the idea of being more energy efficient would not suit our politicians at all, how are their friends (like mr obrian) going to make vast profits and ‘sponsor’ their political pals if we all start using less and paying less ?. the political classes here are interested in 1 thing and 1 thing only making money for themselves and their cronies !
There is already a system in place to encourage people to be energy efficient – I get mine every two months!
Ban on incandescent bulbs, introduction of Eco label etc. people are already using less.
We should really think outside the box in this country, we have no major energy companies to speak of who would seriously lobby against renewable fuels, if at least we had politicians wit balls and foresight, to develop properly our wind and Sea energies potential, also we have highly educated people who would have a free reign if a research lab was set up to seriously with government backing develop new energies and harness the earth’s energy, Tesla tower type stuff, these studies are suppressed and patents bought up by the major oil companies and energy companies in the US and other countries to keep us paying for fossil fuels, if you think about it the engine in your car the basic tech is over 130 years old , surely we have something better at this point, so where is it
Fracking is just a band aid measure to energy needs, what happens when that resource has been depleted and we don’t even have clean water from it, just another thing used by outdated oil companies so they can hold onto power, time to free ourselves from their grip
I’d keep an open mind….we as a country should have an open debate and be showing pro and cons.
Yup but this is Ireland the scaremongering brigade go into over drive. Abortion is murder. Devorse wrecks families. Condoms are wrong. Electrity to the west will kill us all. No to nuclear power out kids will have cancer. No to pylons they cause cancer.
We can there ever be level debate. When we know all the above are untrue but the denier’s are out there.
Personally have read up on truths of it I’d have no problem with fracking in my locality. I’d have no problem living next to reactor too and I do live couple hundred meters from pylon. All good
The events in Ukraine illustrate how exposed Ireland can be when it comes to energy supply. Fracking for oil and gas should be explored as much as possible – security of energy supply is vital. The shale boom has utterly transformed US energy security.
People may immediately think in terms of their own donestic bills but high energy costs are a significant factor in the ability of companies of any size being able to compete. The Irish economy is very vulnerable when it comes to high energy costs and fracking may be a way to reduce dependency on Russian, Norwegian, British or indeed any non soverign energy source.
We need a new generation nuclear reactor, We should start planning long term projects such as thorium reactors so that we can access this technology when it comes on stream.
This is a sensible article. Fracking should be on the Irish Government’s energy planning agenda along with onshore and offshore wind power generation, tidal power, solar power, importation of LNG by building an LNG import terminal on the Shannon estuary in County Kerry and, above all, by encouraging the continued exploration and development of offshore oil and gas. Bringing the Corrib Gas Terminal in County Mayo on line as soon as possible should always be a national priority. At this point in time the country cannot afford nuclear power stations.
Agree about thorium.
Hell, even uranium reactors have come on leaps & bounds over the decades.
The simple solution to providing us with clean nuclear power is to co- location. Outsource a reactor to sellafield, build one that Feds straight to our grid.
This will be the cheapest and best way to do it. All expertise and resources are existing in site and it’s closer to The eat coast where it’s needed than parts if the west coast and there’s less pylons needed
Energy security -yes to that but impossible with bent incompetent useless self serving gob****es of politicians and some civil servants whose way of thinking would not be out of place in the stone age.
Fracking -no absolutely not! In a sparsely populated region possibly but Ireland is way too small for that. Don’t even get me started thinking about the Gasland documentary and some people are seriously promoting this option? Idiots.
Until we find the equivalent output of a nuclear power station without the risk of making Ireland uninhabitable for thousands of years in the event of an accident then we are stuck with what we have and what we voted in unfortunately.
If you study the economics of fracking – the high well decline rates, in particular, for example in the first year of production, rates decline by 60% on average – it would make no sense whatsoever for Ireland to invest in fracking, as it would involve industrialising huge tracts of our bucolic countryside with unsightly concrete well pads, noisy compressor stations running 24/7 unleashing toxins into the air, high pressure gas pipelines and, quite possibly, Olympic-sized wastewater pits, as there is currently no solution to treat the huge volumes of radioactive wastewater generated by the fracking process.
Why unleash such an industry on our Emerald Isle, where farming and tourism are such important industries, when the economics are so dodgy? Two experts on the economics of fracking whose work is well worth checking out are Arthur Berman and Deborah Rogers from Fort Worth in Texas, a town which recently banned fracking, in fact. Deborah came to Ireland last year and has advised our government on the folly of proceeding with this industry, but will they listen?
Would it not make far more sense for our government to promote non-intrusive energy technologies, such as solar and biomass, and invest more in energy efficiency? It is being done elsewhere in Northern Europe, so no reason why Ireland can’t do the same. Shale gas is certainly not the answer to our energy needs – it’s only a short-term fix, and a pretty dangerous one at that.
Access to Land
Alice has written a great article. She has put the Fracking debate in context. It’s the first time I have read an article that is well informed about the current situation. The Access to land issue may be unconstitutional but that doesn’t change the fact that if a company gets a lease they (under the law) will have rights to access and use any land within the lease. It’s also true that if the minister grants an exploration licence to explore the company through is existing contract with the state earns the right to such a lease by forming the view that part of the area under licence is commercially viable now or at some point in the future.
A decision in favor of granting an exploration licence put local the health of local communities at risk. We will be faced with depending on environmental and planning regulations where there was no proper assessment of policy. No consideration of the potential damage to agriculture tourism or to public health. The affect of pushing ahead with a project in North Leitrim without assessing any plans or policy and against the democratic will of citizens will create enormous anxiety. The reality of Fracking meeting any security of supply demand on the Island of Ireland means tying ourselves to industrailisation of the Irish landscape. There is no way of escaping this. Wells only last between 1 to 5 years so in order to continue meeting demand we will have to continue to move forward into new areas.
Farming families need to take note!!
Access to land needs to be understood and the link between searching for gas and rights to extract (which include access rights on to land) will not allow to farmers to decide whether they want fracking on there land or not.
Some important links
LICENSING TERMS FOR OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT & PRODUCTION 2007 LICENSING TERMS (see section 24)
http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/NR/rdonlyres/48C3818F-02E7-4060-9E88-06D0C8332480/0/LicensingTerms2007Web2011.pdf
PETROLEUM AND OTHER MINERALS DEVELOPMENT ACT,
1960 (see article 15-1)
http://www.mineralsireland.ie/NR/rdonlyres/0B80C118-9544-45B6-A660-1A85F70DF7CF/0/Petroleum_and_other_Minerals_Development_Act_1960.pdf
We can not allow Fracking to happen in Ireland for a number of reason,
1)The cost it has has on the environment
2)The damage it will do to Ireland clean green image for tourism and the food industry
3)The damage it will do to the local road infrastructure
4)We need to be reducing our reliance on fossil fuel not opening up more reserves
5)Investment in fracking inhibits investment in renewable and a move to a low carbon economy
6)The industialision of the country side
Whatever the pro’s and cons of fracking v wind/hydro/renewables – /current imports of high carbon emitting energy generators , are we to let the latter day High Druid Priest/Esses freeze frame us in a Utopia (for them) of a 3d world small Island exporting our brightest and best to run economies X the World all employing fracking/ High Voltage O/H power lines etc
SEAI, Irish Offshore Operators Association (oil and gas), offshore and onshore wind farm developers, biomass companies and local authorities AND THIS IS UNBIASED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sharing this comment on behalf of a fellow campaigner who’s not on social media.
The FAZ reports that Germany is intending to ban fracking!
Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks rejects the extraction of shale gas from deep rock formations in Germany. “Unlike the United States, our country is small-scale structured and densely populated. For this reason alone I consider a sustainable commercial use of fracking technology where we are for wishful thinking,” the SPD politician told the Passau Neue Presse (Tuesday). “In addition, fracking is the wrong answer to the energy question. A realignment of our energy policy should lead us away from fossil fuels – regardless of where they come from. This is not only an imperative of tackling climate but also makes us less dependent on imports. ”
Hendricks wants to legally ban fracking. “The coalition agreement is very clear: drinking water and health have absolute priority for us. We reject the use of environmentally toxic substances. We will enshrine that in law.”
What is for certain is we need to change how we generate, supply and consume energy. Generating energy from renewable resources close to where it is being used in an efficient manner has to be the solution. The sun provides all the energy we need if we harness it properly. Community Energy Co-ops are the fairest solution, where those who pay the costs receive the benefits.
Frackings proposed benefits such as energy security, jobs etc can be achieved by a focusing on renewable resources with proper a utilisation matrix eg : electric cars recharging at night using excess supply. Its potential costs are far to high. There will be no recourse against fracking operators in the event of pollution or other disasters as the companies are structured purposefully to go bankrupt once the well stops producing which is estimated to be within a year.
Really, do we want to leave a wasteland to our children? Or do we want to make the changes needed to leave an abundant equitable planet?
As regards the articles mention of developing a national energy strategy with proper public participation people can check out People’s Energy Charter who are doing some Trojan work in bringing this necessity to Government :
https://www.facebook.com/PCREI
https://twitter.com/pcreirl
http://energycharter.wordpress.com/
I think the path is as follows, we will develop onshore wind until 2020. Post 2020 there should be a move away from onshore wind to offshore wind at this stage the power and scale and economy of them will be improved upon the current situation. The issue of gas still remains though and sadly we may need fracking. I would prefer if it was possible to generate bio-gas in large quantities but reality remains and is we are and will be heavily dependent on gas for the next 20 years. The means and method is up for review, that is frack, alternative gas with bio-gas and continue import, find another corrib.
Onshore wind alone will not be sufficient to supply Ireland’s energy needs. Nor will offshore wind. Power generated by wind is intermittent and needs to be supplemented by a constant 24/ 7 supply from other reliable sources. Gas – imported LNG and from the Irish Continental Shelf is the reliable solution.
Hence HVDC interconnection.
I should say in reference to electricity. In theory wind could actually supply all our electricity needs. Energy needs no. The issue with energy is transport and heating needs. Our energy is oil based which is another issue that is not going to change over night especially in transport. As for importing LNG yes that’s needed and yes for HVDC. What i think is needed is acceptance of a drive to produce as much low carbon indigenous sources of energy as technically possible from whatever resources we can whilst reducing consumption, being more efficient and trying not to burden tax payers. Is there one answer to this. Not really. Its a combination of all the energy sources combined.
Fracking in Ireland will not decrease price of gas or offer more security unless it is state run. Ireland has neither the money or inclination to do this the gas will be priced on the world market. So if Russia “turns off the gas” world price will go up and most could not afford it.
The more supply available the lower the price.
Whether Mad Vlad turns off the Gazprom taps or not.
No. In 2008 when Oil price hit 150 dollars a barrel, demand was reducing and OPEC was increasing supply. More and more commodity prices being influenced by speculation.
have your say