Dr. Muireann Lynch:

Yes, it is hopefully imminent and definitely this calendar year.

Regarding diversification, there is the energy side and the electricity side. It is challenging because the main policy behind decarbonisation is to electrify as much as possible and, at the same time, our electricity sources are shrinking in diversity. Realistically, we are just looking at wind, gas and interconnection - that is it. The other options for diversification include things like synthetic biofuels, hydrogen and possibly switching from kerosene in rural households to something like LPG, bio-LPG or HVO. We currently have another piece of work on the go that suggests there might be some arguments for going that route, assuming they are sustainable and low carbon. That is the big hashtag we always want to care about.

When it comes to things like electric cars and heat pumps, we totally ignore all their embodied emissions. It is a little inconsistent to start getting upset about how sustainable our biofuels are when no one is as upset about how sustainable our other investments are. Realistically, as long as nuclear energy is off the table, on the power-gen side we do not have huge options. Diversifying within renewables is not super helpful. The evidence for the idea that going all-wind is bad, and that we should complement wind with solar and geothermal energy or whatever, is not great. Having said that, solar is currently going gangbusters in a way nobody expected. You want some in your portfolio. However, as long as it is wind and gas, the more wind the better.