The Irish Times view on Ireland’s record on wind energy: progress is too slow

The highest global temperatures ever reached in April were recorded last month. Indeed, the past 11 months have been the hottest recorded for their respective time periods. There are almost daily warnings from scientists that climate change is accelerating, and it will soon pass the point of no return.

The primary threat to Ireland and other countries is the physical impact of climate change. Towards the end of last year, many towns and villages around the country were flooded. Whereas once this would have been seen as unusual, it will soon become the norm.

Flooding, droughts, and wildfires affect most countries, but they are having a disproportionate impact on the developing world, which, in turn, is increasing the flow of asylum seekers to the EU, including Ireland.

It is in this context that the latest report from the Climate Change Advisory Council, published yesterday, is an indictment of Ireland’s much vaunted transition to the green economy.

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Almost every sector of society agrees that climate change poses an existential crisis and must be addressed. However, there is a far too common, and unacceptable, tendency to pass responsibility elsewhere for taking the difficult measures needed to reduce greenhouse gases.

Governments must lead by example. Ireland has among the most abundant wind resources in the world, yet progress in translating this into alternative sources of energy is lamentable. Just 0.2 gigawatts of onshore wind energy capacity was added last year.

The Climate Change Advisory Council cites the planning system as a major constraint on the development of wind energy projects. The planning system is dysfunctional, but it is not the only area that falls short of required standards.

According to Wind Energy Ireland, an industry lobby group, Ireland lags behind Britain in a number of key areas needed to develop the sector. These include ports, specialist ships, and a sufficient number of workers with the right skills.

The Government is halfway through an offshore wind energy auction process that could supply 80 per cent of the country’s electricity demands by 2030, a considerable increase on the 35 per cent generated by wind sources last year. These are very commendable objectives and would go a long way to help Ireland meet its CO2 reduction targets agreed at an EU level.

But unless the problems with the planning system, in particular, are addressed, then there is very little prospect of these targets being reached. The irony is that people are being encouraged to switch to electric vehicles as part of a drive to decarbonise the economy. Yet much of the electricity used to service these electric vehicles comes from carbon intensive sources. Ireland needs to do much better.