The ESB made it clear yesterday that it does not wish to become the "whipping boy" in a drive to reduce Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions - particularly carbon dioxide.
Dr Owen Wilson, the board's corporate safety and environment manager, said that limiting our emissions to a 15 per cent increase by 2010 was "a major strategic issue for the economy".
He described today's ESRI report, which attempts to quantify the cost of doing so, as an "important" contribution to the debate, but said it "raises more questions than it answers".
Dr Wilson conceded that the ESB's solid fuel generating stations were the largest source of Ireland's rising carbon dioxide emissions, with Moneypoint as the largest single contributor. But while the ESB was "part of the problem", he said, it was also part of the solution as increased energy efficiency - including a major switch to natural gas - was helping to contain emissions.
He pointed out that "demand side management", such as promoting more energy conservation and efficiency, had already saved 800,000 tonnes per annum in carbon dioxide emissions. But he accepted that a greater impact could be made on the supply side, in terms of changing over to less polluting fuels - such as natural gas - for electricity generation.
He strongly agreed with the ESRI's central conclusion that all sectors of the economy should make a contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and not just the electricity sector.
Dr Wilson also said public awareness of the problem of climate change needed to be raised and that politicians and the business community would have to take a longer-term view in dealing with it.
