Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
530. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether targets for combating greenhouse gases will be met as a result of certain circumstances (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32311/18]
View answerLand use changes and land management practices, including tilling, often result in soil disturbance and can result in a temporary increase in emissions from some carbon pools. This can also be the case in terms of afforestation irrespective of the species that are planted. However, these disturbances are temporary in nature and commercial forests are substantial sinks of greenhouse gases for the majority of their rotation. EPA research on soil and land use, the SOLUM project, is ongoing and will provide further information on this issue.
In relation to the reporting and accounting of land use and land use changes, Ireland is required to estimate all potential emissions from relevant managed land as reflected in the methodology described in the National Inventory Report submitted by the EPA. Emissions from fuel use in forest practices related to harvesting and transportation are included in national inventories and accounts based on total fuel use nationally across all sectors of the economy.
In terms of estimating embedded energy in harvested wood, a recent publication funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine entitled “Embedded energy in wood fuels” is available on coford.ie. This publication includes typical values for the amount of fossil fuels used in the production of different wood fuels and demonstrates that this represents a small fraction of the energy contained in the fuels.
Mitigation measures in the land sector, such as afforestation, are recognised internationally as essential to meeting global emission reduction targets. This is recognised in both the Paris Agreement and the EU Effort Sharing Regulation. During the 2021 to 2030 period, Irish forests are forecast to be an accountable greenhouse gas sink of 22 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, primarily as a result of afforestation in recent years, and will make a significant positive contribution to meeting our national emission reduction target.
