IRISH HOMES are energy inefficient and householders fritter away money by buying wasteful electrical appliances and failing to make simple, no-cost, behavioural changes. It's not a new story. But as the price of oil, gas and electricity surges to new heights, we can no longer afford such profligate behaviour. It is not just cost that should concern us, but the impact an excessive use of carbon fuels has on global warming.
Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) has produced a report on household energy use that makes for depressing reading. In spite of a variety of Government-sponsored schemes down the years, Irish homes still use one-third more energy than their EU equivalent. And while this may be accounted for by their larger size and the widespread use of solid fuel heating, there is room for improvement in terms of better insulation, heating controls and double glazing.
The situation is particularly acute for low-income families. SEI estimates that 60,000 homes are affected by fuel poverty. These people are unable to heat their living spaces to a comfortable standard for less than 10 per cent of their incomes and, as a result, are at risk of hypothermia. Because they are so vulnerable, their situation should receive special attention in terms of a rebate system when a carbon levy is introduced under the programme for government. A Commission on Taxation is currently considering a range of measures to lower carbon emissions, including a levy, and it is due to report before the end of next year.
The energy efficiency of our homes has improved during the past decade. But, even as building regulations demanded better standards of insulation, a flush of money from the Celtic Tiger economy encouraged the construction of larger homes with floor-to-ceiling glazing and open-plan structures. We now have to learn to modify our behaviour through careful electricity usage and the application of alternative energy. Solar panels, heat pumps and wood pellet stoves can, in tandem with attic and wall insulation, bring costs down significantly. A pilot scheme introduced by Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan is designed to encourage householders to upgrade their insulation and heating systems. That programme, involving capital grants of €100 million, is due to be extended countrywide next year. And it has been estimated that more than half of our housing stock could benefit from it. Annual energy savings of €500 per home are possible.
We are playing catch-up on many fronts. When times were good, we paid inadequate attention to the need for energy conservation. The Government announced and later abandoned plans for a carbon tax in 2004. Fines for exceeding our Kyoto commitments fall due next January. In spite of that, we still import almost 90 per cent of our energy requirements. And plans for a cross-channel electricity inter-connector are only now coming to fruition.
It is not just the Government that has dragged its feet. Every householder has a role to play in conserving energy and tackling global warming.