Brian Stanley
Question:681. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the level by which CO2 emissions have been reduced in Ireland as a result of the wind energy sector. [4332/17]
View answerTuesday, 31 January 2017
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Harnessing our renewable energy resources will play a key role in the transition towards a sustainable, secure and competitive energy system.
The 2009 EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy requirements from renewable sources by 2020 and in order to meet this target, Ireland is committed to meeting 40% of electricity demand from renewable sources, 12% renewables in the heating sector and 10% in transport. As regards the 40% electricity target, provisional data from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) indicates that 27.3% of electricity demand was met from renewable sources in 2016, of which wind accounted for 23.2%.
The SEAI also estimates that the amount of CO2 avoided from renewable energy use in electricity generation increased by 226% over the period 2005-2015, reaching 3,188 kt. CO2 in 2015. In the same year, emissions avoided from wind accounted for 2,436 kt CO2.
Further information is available in the SEAI report Energy-Related Emissions in Ireland which can be downloaded at http://www.seai.ie/Publications/Statistics_Publications/Energy-related-Emissions/CO2%20emissions%20from%20fuel%20combustion.pdf.