State can avoid need for costly gas terminal if it phases out fossil fuels, says climate council chair
Addressing a committee of politicians on Wednesday,
Marie Donnelly
said Ireland may need a
liquefied natural gas (LNG)
processing facility with storage, but with an orderly phase-out of costly fossil fuels, and using biogas as backup in the form of biomethane from extensive used of anaerobic digestion technology, it will not be necessary.
Without a phase-out of fossil fuels, householders and businesses face increased energy costs, while even more fines and compliance costs would hit the State, warned Ms Donnelly, chair of the
Climate Change Advisory Council
, which is an independent organisation that assesses the State's transition sustainability.
The cost of setting up and operating an LNG facility is in the order of €900 million, including lease and operating costs, according to analysis by Cambridge Economic Policy Associates in its review of the State's energy security, commissioned by former climate minister
Eamon Ryan
in 2022.
READ MORE
Ms Donnelly noted that Ireland faces more stringent limits on amounts of legally permitted carbon, so 'phase-out and ultimately eliminating fossil fuels' is key.
Committing to
emissions
reductions is necessary to allow the country to achieve carbon neutrality, she said.
To enable the phase-out, the Government 'must urgently commit to making the necessary investment, taxation and policy decisions'.
'It needs to prioritise investment and resources now to save people and businesses money by phasing out fossil fuels to avoid future fines and compliance costs, maintain competitiveness in a low-carbon world and enhance resilience to
climate change
,' she said.
A notable success is the programme of deep retrofits of houses, she said. This decarbonisation of buildings has been helped by the ring-fencing of
carbon tax
.
[
We don't need a floating liquefied natural gas facility. There is a better way
Opens in new window
]
The least successful sector is
forestry
, while reducing
transport
emissions remains the most challenging sector, she said. Despite policies to incentivise afforestation with financial incentives, key targets were missed.
Ms Donnelly said 'the sector is in total disarray', with an annual target of 8,000 hectares a year, and reaching only 2,000 in a good year. 'It's a real challenge to understand and deal with the reluctance of those who have land – farmers and others – to invest in forestry.'
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