Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 800: To ask the Minister for Defence the percentage of energy consumed in his Department and in all agencies for which his Department has responsibility that comes from renewable sources. [33276/07]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)
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To date the emphasis in my Department and across the Defence Forces has been on energy conservation and increasing energy efficiency. In 2003, an Energy Efficiency Working Group was established in the Defence Forces to examine fuel economy measures throughout the Defence Forces. A number of initiatives to improve efficiency have since been implemented and have resulted in more efficient energy usage.

At present about 0.3% of the energy used by the Department and Defence Forces comes from renewable sources. It is intended to increase the use of such energy sources in the future by introducing a number of pilot schemes across the Defence Forces. This includes the use of Solar Panels for the provision of domestic hot water, Waste Oil burners and the introduction of Biomass boilers in a number of locations.