Sir, – John Andrews (Letters, February 12th) tells us our emissions are double those of Sweden. About 80 per cent of electricity production in Sweden comes from always available nuclear and hydroelectric power. The rest comes predominantly from wind and other renewables, with less than 2 per cent from fossil fuels.
Furthermore, Sweden is strongly interconnected with neighbouring countries and so has instant back-up if needed.
As for Ireland, the only always available power with no emissions is our hydro, which is a mere 2 per cent of our total requirement.
To put it in perspective, Sweden’s hydro alone would supply about three times the total requirement of Ireland!
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Ireland is essentially an isolated network with only weak external links. Unfortunately, Ireland committed itself to emission goals that could destroy our economy.
There simply is no valid comparison between Ireland and Sweden. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN RYAN,
Borris,
Co Carlow.