The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020, to be achieved through 40% renewables in electricity, 12% in heat and 10% in transport. Provisional figures provided by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) indicate that at the end of 2014 some 6.6% of heat demand was met by renewable sources, while at the end of 2013 some 2.8% of transport demand was met by renewable sources. The SEAI figures also indicate that the total contribution from renewable generation to gross electricity consumption last year was 22.6% with some 69.6% (both provisional figures) of electricity generated from fossil fuels.
The table, provided by the SEAI, provides data for the past 5 years (including provisional figures for 2014) on the contributions of coal, gas, oil, hydro and biomass to gross electricity consumption.
|
Share of Electricity Generated by Fuel
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
2014P
|
|
Coal
|
14.3%
|
16.8%
|
19.8%
|
17.2%
|
14.3%
|
|
Oil
|
2.1%
|
0.9%
|
0.8%
|
0.7%
|
0.7%
|
|
of which - Gas Oil
|
0.4%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
|
of which -Fuel Oil
|
1.5%
|
0.6%
|
0.6%
|
0.5%
|
0.5%
|
|
of which -Refinery Gas
|
0.2%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
0.1%
|
|
of which -LPG
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
0.0%
|
|
Natural Gas
|
61.3%
|
53.2%
|
49.4%
|
45.4%
|
45.8%
|
|
Renewables
|
12.9%
|
19.4%
|
18.9%
|
20.1%
|
22.6%
|
|
of which - Hydro
|
2.1%
|
2.5%
|
2.9%
|
2.1%
|
2.5%
|
|
of which - Wind
|
9.7%
|
15.7%
|
14.4%
|
16.3%
|
18.3%
|
|
of which - Biomass, Renewable Waste & Biogas
|
1.1%
|
1.2%
|
1.6%
|
1.7%
|
1.8%
|
Source: SEAI.
