Patrick D. Harte
Question:42 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for Energy the new initiatives he has planned for 1990 in the area of energy conservation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Energy Conservation.
My Department's energy conservation programme was modified last year with an increased emphasis on the measurement of savings and replicating results on as widespread a basis as possible. This revised programme continues in the current year.
The environment action programme introduced earlier this year by the Government identified the need for action to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide which account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gases. In this context energy conservation is considered to be the most effective short-term contribution the developed world can make towards reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Additional resources this year amounting to £500,000 were allocated to launch a major energy conservation programme in addition to the activities which are currently under way.
The measures which will be undertaken in the expanded conservation programme, and which I announced recently, include the installation of energy management systems in two hospitals with a view to demonstrating that such systems can result in substantial energy savings; a project to trace more precisely the location and route of groundwater as a source of renewable energy in the city centre area of Dublin; a grant to a charitable group which has been engaged for some years in draught-proofing the houses of the needy and elderly; the establishment as soon as possible of a conservation advisory group on energy conservation matters; and the undertaking of some studies in the conservation area, the results of which will prove useful in determining conservation policy in the future.