Green economy creates 15,400 jobs in two years

A total of 15,400 new jobs have been created by the green economy in Ireland, according to the Minister for Energy, Eamon Ryan. Launching the Green Economy report at Government Buildings in Dublin last week, the minister said that, since entering Government, the semi-state energy companies in Ireland have gone green with investment plans of over €30 billion over the next decade. With the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, Eamon Ryan outlined how the programme of transformation that began when the Green Party entered Government in 2007 and spelled out the priorities of the coming years on the basis of the new report. "Over 15,400 jobs have been announced in the green economy sector. If this was a single factory, we would all still be speaking of it," he said. "We have introduced a national insulation scheme which is reducing energy costs for over 30,000 homes insulated this year alone. These schemes are supporting thousands of workers throughout Ireland. "We are on track for reaching our renewable energy targets with new guaranteed support prices for offshore wind, ocean energy and biomass anaerobic digestion/combined heat and power. We have changed the rules so that people can create their own power and sell it back to the national grid," he added. The minister said Ireland was ahead of the international curve with electric vehicles and smart meters. The East West electricity interconnector is under construction, the single electricity market with Northern Ireland has begun and, every day, the amount of renewable energy in the Irish system is being increased. "We are greening this economy, providing jobs, cutting costs and carbon at the same time. The semi-state sector, private industry and the people are all facing in one direction led by Government," he added. "Next year, I will prioritise the implementation of the Green IFSC, a new model of insulation, press ahead with electric vehicles and expand support for business to make the right choices. This has been and will be truly transformational." In the areas of sustainable energy generation and the building of smart grids, the ESB will invest €22 billion, Bord Gais €2.5 billion, EirGrid €4 billion and Bord na Mona, €1.5 billion. The Government target is an ambitious 40 per cent renewables by 2020, although Minister Ryan has consistently said this will not be the limit of Ireland's ambitions. The target is based on the All-Island Grid study, which is the most advanced and comprehensive analysis of its kind in the world electricity sector. This study suggests that Ireland could feasibly have 42 per cent of its electricity generated from renewables by 2020. In October this year, EirGrid reported a peak of 1,064mW of wind on the system, enough to power Cork (city and county) and Kerry and Leitrim. The Government has introduced new and competitive support prices for offshore wind, ocean energy and biomass CHP, unlocking the potential of the private sector in these energy creation areas. The Government has also announced its intention that 10 per cent of Ireland's transport fleet would be electric by 2020, representing a total of 250,000 vehicles. The Programme for Government commits to 6,000 electric vehicles over the next three years. The Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan-Renault and the ESB in order to bring the vehicles to the Irish market as soon as they are available. ESB has committed to providing the infrastructure for such a radical overhaul of Ireland's electricity system so that electric vehicles can be charged on the Irish system.