Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2017
1113. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views that his Department will meet their EU renewable and emissions reductions targets by 2020; if he will provide a detailed account of how close we are as a State to meeting these targets. [34809/17]
View answerThe release of the latest projections of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency illustrates the enormous challenge facing Ireland to reduce our emissions. These projections indicate that emissions from those sectors of the economy not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), including the transport sector, could be between 4% and 6% below 2005 levels by 2020. Though not unexpected, given the welcome return to economic growth in Ireland and the corresponding rise in transport needs, it nevertheless confirms that Ireland's greenhouse emissions continue to track broader trends in the economy and serves to underline the difficult decisions ahead of us as we try to reduce emissions in line with our international commitments.
Ireland has a collective emissions reduction target for each year between 2013 and 2020 under the 2009 EU Effort Sharing Decision with the ultimate goal of emission reductions of 20% below their level in 2005 by 2020. Ireland's target is one of the most demanding; only shared with those in Denmark and Luxembourg. The projected shortfall to our national targets in 2020 reflects both the constrained investment capacity over the past decade due to the economic crisis, and the extremely challenging nature of the target itself. In fact, it is now accepted that Ireland's 2020 target was not consistent with what would be achievable on an EU wide cost-effective basis.
The EU Renewable Energy Directive set Ireland a legally binding target of meeting 16% of our energy demand from renewable sources by 2020. Ireland is committed to achieving this national target through meeting 40% of electricity demand, 12% of heat and 10% of transport from renewable sources of energy. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has calculated that 9.1% of Ireland's overall energy requirements in 2015 were met from renewable sources and 5.7% of transport energy demand.
My Department aims to meet our sectoral renewable energy targets for transport mainly through the increased use of sustainable biofuels, with electric vehicles also making a contribution. As the Deputy may be aware, an increase to the current biofuel obligation rate is envisaged and a public consultation on future incremental increases is expected to take place later this year.
