Labour's Plan for Green Energy Jobs
Issued : Friday 4 February, 2011
The dual concern of climate change and energy security has resulted in countries around the world adopting policies to change their energy sources and alter their use. With the right energy policy and institutional framework, Ireland has the potential to reap significant societal, environmental and economic benefits.
The current policy framework has been defined by a lack of policy and institutional coordination combined with delays in planning. For example, onshore wind farm developers in Ireland can experience delays in planning applications of up to 33 months and are forced to contact an average of 14 governmental or local authorities to obtain a decision.
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Summary
Labour proposes to overcome the shortcomings in Ireland's current energy policy by coordinating the input from both the public and private sector through a Coordinating Policy Office within the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
Labour believes that the right energy policies could deliver 80,000 jobs in various sectors. For example, a National Retrofit Programme of the estimated 1.2 million homes in need of improving their energy efficiency has the potential to employ up to 30,000 construction workers.
This paper sets out Labour's range of practical solutions to meet the deficit in Ireland's energy policy, which can be divided into electricity, heat and transport.
Electricity
Ireland has set a national target that 40% of its electricity consumption will be derived from renewable sources by 2020. To reach that goal there is a need to:
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Develop a significant extension of the transmission infrastructure.
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Develop a Smart Grid with the capability to decarbonise the electricity sector.
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Develop technology Road Maps for the connection of different types of renewable technologies e.g. offshore, solar, ocean.
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Diversify fuel sources to help insulate the consumer from price fluctuations in primary fuels e.g. oil and gas.
Renewable Heating
Ireland has set a target of 12% penetration in the renewable heat sector by 2020. The application of renewable energy in the heat sector can help to reduce an over-dependence on fossil fuel imports and increase levels of sustainability in the broader domestic, commercial and industrial sectors:
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Set and enforce building standards.
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Reduce CO2 in the industry sector through greater electrification, for example through the wider use of heat pumps instead of boilers.
Transport
Ireland is almost 100% reliant on fossil fuels in the transport sector. In order to end that reliance, the current transport strategy to roll out 250,000 electric cars by 2020 must be strengthened:
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Create jobs by developing the new technologies needed to roll out electric cars
