Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 February 2023
176. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will provide the exact carbon emissions derived per annum from the importation of coal from Colombia to Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8786/23]
View answer177. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications the total carbon footprint of the mining, transport and burning of Columbian coal, versus the total carbon footprint of indigenous natural gas and Corrib gas for the generation of a similar quantity of electricity on a per annum basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8787/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 177 together.
The recently published Climate Action Plan 2023 sets out a plan to implement the carbon budgets and sectoral emissions ceilings along with a roadmap for taking decisive action to halve our emissions by 2030 and reach net zero no later than 2050, as was committed to in the Programme for Government. The plan sets out measures and actions to ensure electricity demand is managed in line with our climate objectives.
The EPA have reported that our overall emissions increased by 4.7% in 2021, as the economy recovered post pandemic, after there was an overall decrease of 3.6% in 2020. The increase in total emissions in 2021 was driven by the increased use of coal and oil for electricity generation in 2021, as well as increases in both the agriculture and transport sectors. The emissions data for 2022 has not yet been published by the EPA.
The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) publish a monthly report on electricity generation in Ireland and report that for the period January to December 2022, 2,512 GWh of electricity was produced from coal. For comparison electricity generation from coal for all of 2021 totaled 2,781 GWh showing a slight reduction in coal use in 2022. More detail on monthly figures for electricity generation by fuel type can be found on the SEAI website. The Department does not hold data on lifecycle emissions of coal from specific countries.
Over the longer term, there has been a shift away from coal and oil, two of the fuels with the highest CO2 intensity. These fuels have been replaced by a combination of high efficiency gas combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) generation, and zero carbon renewables.
In line with the Government's policy statement on security of electricity supply published in November 2021 it is appropriate that existing conventional electricity generation capacity, including existing coal fired electricity generation, should be retained until new conventional electricity generation capacity is developed in order to ensure security of electricity supply.
Conventional capacity will only operate if and when needed, with renewable energy and efficient gas-fired power stations always being supplied to the market first. This approach will minimise the impact on greenhouse gas emissions, while ensuring continued security of electricity supply.
