IRELAND HAS SIGNIFICANT ENERGY SAVINGS POTENTIAL
This important new SEAI report identifies massive potential energy savings amounting to nearly a quarter of Ireland’s primary energy demand in 2013 (nearly 35 TWh). These savings are over and above what is required to bridge the current gap to the 2020 energy efficiency target. The identified measures are both technical and behavioural. Almost 75% of these measures are cost-effective whereby they reduce energy use and bring net financial savings in the long term. Yet despite being cost-effective much of the available energy saving potential remains untapped due to market failure and other barriers .
Unlocking the savings requires a continuation and extension of existing policies and measures, as outlined in Ireland’s National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP), as well as implementation of new measures, some of which are identified in this report. The potential is largest in the residential buildings sector (13.5 TWh), followed by the transport (7.3 TWh), commercial buildings (6.0 TWh) and industry (4.8 TWh) sectors.
SEAI Energy Efficiency Report on Irish Policy Options
