John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House in support of the motion about the recently published energy Green Paper, Towards a Sustainable Energy Future for Ireland. In particular, I welcome the terms of the motion which recognise the social and economic importance of energy policy. This motion puts energy policy in its rightful place, at the forefront of our development as an economy and as a society up to 2020.

This is the first comprehensive Green Paper published by Government since the mid-1970s, and it covers all aspects of energy. The paper sets out the policy directions, targets and actions proposed out to 2020 for security of supply, sustainability, and competitiveness, as the three main pillars of energy policy.

The Green Paper has been published with a two-month period for consultation, and a vigorous and robust debate about the issues and policy directions has already commenced. I am glad that the Oireachtas has shown a strong lead in this regard. The paper has already been the subject of an in-depth discussion by the joint committee as well as statements in the Dáil last night and now in this House this evening where we have already had some excellent contributions.

While many elements make up our overall strategy, we need to keep our eye on the bigger picture in terms of where we want Ireland to be in energy terms in 2020. A clear vision of the 2020 energy landscape will help shape and inform the debate about strategies to get there. I note that the motion quite explicitly acknowledges our responsibility to the next generation. I will sketch out some of the features of the energy landscape we intend that generation to experience. However, for us to bequeath that reality to them, we will require delivery on challenging and far-sighted targets from us all.

The motion places particular emphasis on renewable energy, bio-fuels and energy efficiency. Attaining world-class performance in terms of the sustainability of our energy production and use will be the key to ensuring a secure energy future for Ireland. Accordingly, I wish to focus especially on these elements and set out how success in sustainability will support both security of supply and competitiveness, illustrating the coherence of the policy directions set out in the Green Paper. Delivering the vision set out in the Green Paper depends on the strong leadership of Government and on the response of the stakeholders in the energy industry as well as energy consumers.

A broad range of factors influence world energy trends such as volatility in oil and gas prices, prediction and forecasts of peak oil, the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly, exponential demand growth from China, India and other dynamically growing economies, and a national economy with an import dependence of around 90% to meet its energy needs. When we view our circumstances in this context, there is no doubt that harnessing our indigenous renewable energy resources must be central to energy policy not just in the electricity market but across the energy markets, including heat and transport. At the same time, we must make every effort to reduce energy demand through energy efficiency and demand management strategies.

The Green Paper envisages an ambitious target of 30% of electricity produced by renewable energy by 2020. This is a doubling of the 15% target by 2010 and an example of a challenging target as referred to in the motion. Inevitably, there will be debate whether this new target is too much or too little. Stakeholders can muster arguments about technical difficulties as well as others who may see the target as too conservative. Ambitious targets provide the challenge for world-class performance from all areas of the energy industry. This approach will be brought to bear when definitive targets for renewable energy are set in the White Paper following the consultation period.

To ensure the revised target can be delivered under realistic assumptions, the historical support offered to this market segment was changed earlier this year. The new support programme, the renewable energy feed in tariff, REFIT, programme, moves the emphasis away from competitive tendering to a fixed price type support mechanism which has been received positively in the market. This scheme, worth €119 million, will support 55 new renewable electricity generating plants with a combined capacity of more than 600 MW, predominantly wind powered. This increase in capacity will bring our renewable energy electricity capacity to the point where it can power 1 million homes, increasing capacity from 860 MW to 1,469 MW and preventing the emission of 2 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.

In addition to the support targeted directly at electricity production, a series of practical supports have been put in place to encourage domestic and commercial electricity consumers to change towards renewable energy technologies. This year saw the introduction of a five- year €27 million greener homes programme which provides grants for domestic renewable heat technologies; a five-year €22 million bio-heat programme, providing grants for commercial investments in wood pellet and wood chip boilers; an €11 million grant programme for combined heat and power to encourage industry and commercial users to generate their own electricity and heat; and a new excise relief programme for bio-fuels valued at more than €200 million to commence the development of sustainable fuels in the transport sector. These are the support systems for the here and now, evidence of the importance the Government attaches to the development of renewable energy, and a strong indicator of where the focus of our attention must be over the coming years.

Advancing the sustainability agenda runs much further than protecting the environment. Increased use of renewable energy is central to security of supply, providing diversity in our fuel mix and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. This is the great strength of the policy paths set out in the Green Paper, that the policies and actions in it are designed to interact and reinforce one another in a coherent way. We have one of the richest potential renewable energy resources in Europe — wind, ocean and bio-energy. In addition to sponsoring and advancing the existing technologies, we must also look to the future and develop further renewable sources and technologies with an eye on 2020.

Earlier this year, the new Irish Energy Research Council was established. The council, which includes leading academics and prominent industry figures, will co-ordinate energy research in Ireland. It will advise not only on the development of policy for energy research but also on priorities for Irish energy research and on integrating energy research policy with policies for the transport, environment, agriculture, enterprise, science and education sectors.

By 2020, Ireland should be the world leader in ocean energy technology, which is a challenging target. The hydraulics and maritime research centre in UCC has been upgraded and an ocean energy test site has been established off the coast of Spiddal, County Galway, to test prototype ocean powered devices.