Ireland’s commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050 fails to acknowledge technological and financial realities and amounts to “wishful thinking,” according to a new report from the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE).
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland today, Chairman of the Energy and Climate Action Committee at the IAE, Eamonn O’Reilly said that “we have made commitments in Europe we simply cannot keep”.
The report says that in order to meet the 2050 targets, it would require the completion of a programme of over 350 large energy infrastructure projects.
It notes that there is currently no plan for such projects.
Among the most numerous projects required to meet the targets are 71 onshore wind, 136 solar and 40 storage.
Additionally, fixed bottom offshore wind projects, electricity interconnectors, transmission lines and back-up generation projects are deemed to be required.
The report also touches on the fact that since 2014 annual national risk assessments have repeatedly identified the vulnerability of Ireland’s supply of natural gas.
“The exposure to a natural gas supply risk is particularly concerning because of the inescapable and continuing reliance the country has on natural gas as the energy source of last resort for electricity generation,” the IAE says.
“The fundamental challenge arising from the intermittency of renewables has not been adequately addressed to date and energy policy needs to recognise that there is no currently available or prospective alternative to natural gas as the backstop source of energy for electricity generation,” it adds.
In a press release accompanying the report, the IAE says that the Government has accepted the imposition of enormous interim financial penalties by the EU if it fails to achieve a zero-emissions electricity system by 2050 “without first understanding and demonstrating how it is feasible”.
“Moreover, this has been done without estimating how much the endeavour will cost and what impact it will have on the already high prices consumers pay for their electricity,” the statement reads.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and the Climate Change Advisory Council stated in March that if Ireland misses its earlier target of a 51 percent reduction in emissions by 2030, it could incur fines of between €8 and €26 billion.