Madam, – The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security has just issued its second report, in which it proposes legislation to encourage renewable energy.
Unfortunately the report shows no recognition of the fact that the Government’s own long-term targets envisage only 40 per cent of our electricity coming from renewables (a target that many experts regard as unachievable). It does not attempt to address an obvious question: where should the remaining 60 per cent come from? Is it to come from gas, for instance? The UK government has just approved new nuclear power plants, in the teeth of uninformed populist opposition and despite the undoubtedly severe political price, to avoid over-dependence on gas imports.
Indeed, gas prices in the coming decade may well rise dramatically as a result of peak oil, the possibility of supply shortages and a recovery in global demand.
In this context it is remarkable that the committee’s proposals make no mention of nuclear power, let alone the need to repeal the provisions of the 1999 Electricity Regulation Act prohibiting the use of nuclear. This, although the submission by Eirgrid to the committee reveals that it has commissioned a study of future energy needs to include consideration of nuclear energy, while the Commission for Energy Regulation argued that “the costs and benefits of nuclear generation in an Irish context should be fully studied” to “ensure that no viable power supply option is closed off for consideration”.
It can only be surmised that the committee excluded nuclear because of its current widespread unpopularity, so we are now in a worse position than ever to deal with the forthcoming energy crisis.
A small but important opportunity has been lost. It is sad that the members of the committee have apparently subordinated the vital interests of this State to short-term political advantage. – Yours, etc,