Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the measures in place to promote clean energy technologies; the measures he has brought forward to support energy conservation here at both the supply and demand sides; his views on the level of savings through greater energy efficiency which are achievable in the medium to long term; the measures which are in place to advance combined heat and power technologies; the contribution of combined heat and power to Ireland's current and possible future energy needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2109/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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Energy conservation and energy efficiency strategies have a critical contribution to make to competitiveness, security of supply and environmental sustainability. The objective is to enable continued growth in economic output using less energy input. The impact of energy efficiency and conservation measures on future energy consumption, total final energy consumption, or future total primary energy requirements, TPER, is difficult to predict. However, recent trends confirm that Ireland's energy intensity, an indicator commonly used for energy efficiency, has fallen over the period 1990 to 2004.

Primary energy intensity fell by 32% between 1990 and 2004, or 2.9% per annum. According to Sustainable Energy Ireland's energy policy statistical support unit, 2004 confirmed a continued trend in the decoupling of economic growth from energy usage and CO2 emissions levels. The economy grew by 4.4% while energy use only grew by 1.4% and energy related CO2 emissions by 1.1%. These welcome reductions in energy and carbon intensity are a result of improvements in generation efficiency, choice of fuels, achievement of economies of scale and the changes in the structure of the country's economy.

I recently launched a public consultation on the European Commission's Green Paper on Energy Efficiency or Doing More with Less. The Green Paper underlines the importance of energy and energy efficiency and highlights the fact that all sectors of the economy and society as a whole have a part to play in reducing energy demand, saving money and reducing CO2 emissions. There are three main ways to reduce national energy demand: eliminating waste, cutting back on demand and using fuels more efficiently. Every stage of every process whether industrial, commercial or domestic will yield efficiencies when examined and all these savings will aggregate to form a substantial total. In tandem with maintaining economic growth, greater energy efficiency will enable reductions in energy demand resulting in savings on fuel import bills, contributing to meeting our Kyoto commitment on greenhouse gases and savings to the economy and consumers.

As announced in the recent budget, I am putting in place a multi-annual financial package to support renewable energy across the electricity, heat and transport sectors. The package of measures includes a five-year biofuels excise relief scheme costing in excess of €200 million and funding of €65 million for renewable energy schemes, including provision for a grant aid programme for small scale CHP units. The package will contribute to the large-scale deployment of renewable sources of energy over the next five years. I intend to launch these schemes, currently being finalised by my Department in conjunction with SEI, as soon as possible.

Successive rounds of the alternative energy requirements programme, AER, have targeted the penetration of renewable technologies in electricity generation. I will shortly announce details of the new support programme designed to further increase the contribution to total electricity production from renewable energy sources. The programme will operate on a fixed price based system to be known as the renewable energy feed in tariff, REFIT.

I approved in 2004 a €364 million capital investment by ESB in its 915 MW coal-fired generating station at Moneypoint, County Clare, which will enable the station to meet its environmental obligations under the EU's national emissions ceiling directive, NEC, and the large combustion plant directive, LCPD. The investment will reduce significantly the existing levels of sulphur dioxide, SO2, and nitrous oxide, NOx, emissions in line with the obligations under the directives.

Natural gas, which represents 47% of feedstock to electricity generation and 25% of national total primary energy requirements, produces no sulphur dioxide and no ash and thus has a reduced environmental impact.

Sustainable Energy Ireland is responsible for the sustainable energy priority programme under the economic and social infrastructure operational programme, which supports a range of research, design construction and other initiatives in renewable technologies and energy efficiency.

Funding is currently available to support feasibility studies into the use of combined heat and power and district heating systems. Under scenarios developed up to 2010, 11%, 4,104 GWh, of Ireland's electricity could be generated from CHP, assuming the high electricity demand forecast in the ESB national grid generation adequacy report for 2004-2010.