Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 17 September 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy

Carbon Budget: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Photo of Barry HeneghanBarry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I am aware of the time, so I will be quick. First, it is great to see two DCU professors from my previous department of sustainable energy systems. I was talking to Professor McMullin briefly before about the thesis I did on data centre waste utilisation. Professor Daly spoke about Denmark and how it is dealing with its energy system. We know the comparison: there were 82 functional data centres as of 2024 in Ireland and 67 in Denmark. Significantly, Denmark already has a district heating system in place. We know the Tallaght district heating system is a success in a way, but what is the witnesses' opinion on that? What I would like to see instead of "Stop the growth of future data centres" is a change to "Enable growth if it adds renewables and useful heat". That is what the ideal situation would be, but we do not have a district heating system already installed, so it will not be as ideal as that. I want to know what the witnesses' opinion on that is.

What would the witnesses' ideal end-of-life plan for wind blades and solar panels be across Ireland?