Renewable Energy
Renewable Energy and wind energy in particular is inherently sustainable; ie using
it does not have an ongoing negative impact on life in the future. It has a number
of key advantages over conventional means of electricity generation:
- It involves very low emissions of "greenhouse gases"
- The fuel supplies will not run out
- The fuel is free and indigenous- it is not subject to fuel price variations and
does not have to be imported
Ireland is one of the windiest places in Western Europe and has a tremendous potential
for wind energy. Wind power can make an important contribution to Ireland's energy
policy objectives of securing diverse and sustainable supplies of energy at competitive
prices.
Renewable energy offers many benefits over conventional energy generation. The most
important are:
- Stopping climate change:
-
Renewable energy allows for the generation of power and heat without increasing
levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As a result, support for renewable energy
has become a major plank of worldwide attempts to avoid the most extreme impact
of climate change, which is driven by carbon pollution from energy production using
fossil fuels.
- Reducing local environmental impacts:
-
Whilst all energy generation has some local environmental impact, the effects of
renewable energy generation are generally much less than would arise from fossil
fuel. Well designed renewable energy schemes produce no or low levels of air pollution
and wastewater, unlike fossil fuel power production.
- Being more self-sufficient:
-
Renewable energy is all around us, so everyone has the potential to use renewable
technology for a proportion of their energy needs. Because renewable energy technology
is modular and scaleable it can be used for a range of needs, from powering a parking
meter to providing energy for a whole town. It can be used to make a building self-sufficient
in energy or decrease the reliance of the island of Ireland on gas imports.
- Creating new business and jobs:
-
Renewable energy employs more people per unit of generating capacity than conventional
energy production. Because it is more decentralised it tends to generate employment
over a wider area, and benefits a wider range of communities and businesses. Over
35,000 jobs are expected to be created in the UK by 2020 from the growth of the
renewable energy sector.
Our capacity
Energia’ commitment to providing electricity supplied by wind power is demonstrated
in its existing and planned energy portfolio.
In Ireland energia currently have 60MW of wind power available, have 160MW coming
on stream over the next two years and have in excess of 200MW in planning stages.