Ireland needs to accelerate the pace of change towards renewables after a study found that fossil fuels accounted for 90 per cent of energy use last year, the head of a state agency has said. The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) called for urgent action on climate change and said that the country faced a significant challenge over its use of oil, gas, coal and peat. A report from the SEAI said that Ireland was overly reliant on fossil fuel for transport, heating and electricity. The use of coal fell by 20 per cent last year while peat dropped by 5.3 per cent but the use of oil and natural gas rose by 0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. The authority said that Ireland was still not on track to meet its 2020 climate change emission targets, despite the use of renewable energy increasing by almost 20 per cent last year.
Times 14th Dec 2018 read more »