Vol. 558 No. 6
116 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the action being taken to develop alternative energy and fuels; if the research undertaken to date will be supported by Government initiatives to ensure that some of the proposals are made commercially viable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25306/02]
The principal actions being taken by Government to support the development of renewable sources of energy and alternative fuels take two forms: supports by Sustainable Energy Ireland for the research, development and demonstration of renewable energy sources, aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of competitive sources of renewable energy; and other support mechanisms to market development, the most significant being the alternative energy requirement or AER scheme.
In July 2002, Sustainable Energy Ireland's programme for renewable energy research, development and demonstration – RD&D – was launched. This document can be accessed at Sustainable Energy Ireland's website, www.sei.ie. The programme, funded by the national development plan, has an indicative budget of €16.25 million up to 2006 for funding in renewable energy for heat and power and is expected to support projects in wind energy, biomass, solar, ocean energy, small hydro, ambient heat – heat pumps, geothermal energy and fuel cells. The programme is open to a wide range of proposal types including policy studies, field research, feasibility studies and technology RD&D. In addition to supporting both near market technologies requiring further development and to supporting other technologies with significant prospects in the medium to longer term, the programme aims to contribute to building an enduring technological capability within the Irish renewable energy community.
