AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
Maybe it’s time to look for a silver lining in the oil crisis caused by Trump’s war on Iran, current talks aside. Could choking of supplies in the Straits of Hormuz be the kick in the pants we need to make us less dependent on fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy sources?
Given what Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), describes as “a major energy crisis and the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” we seriously need to get on with it. Here 80% of our energy overall comes from fossil fuels and switching to an alternative could saves us an estimated €2.8bn according to the IEA.
The Government could try short-term prompts to modify behaviour and cut back on demand, where road usage and transport account for 45% of oil demand. For instance, why not try free public transport for a week to wean folk from their cars or a Go Nowhere Day to conserve fuel. It might be a veritable drop in the ocean and do just a little to reduce our obligation to cut carbon emissions by 42% by 2030, where currently that’s only likely to be 22%.
Many measures needed to provide options to fossil fuels are long term. For example, the national grid needs upgrading to take advantage of renewables like wind power. Also, there is the lack of a suitable port for vessels to construct and service offshore wind and wave power facilities. At present 40% comes from renewables, mainly wind, but the aim is to reach 80%. Creating alternative sources of power like nuclear power (currently against the law) in the shape of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) are long term and costly and the debate about this is just beginning.
In areas where we have personal choice there is some progress. The sale of EVs is speeding up, with a 35% increase last year to 23,601 vehicles and last January the sale of electric cars outpaced traditional ones for the first time. The change is partly due to cheaper EVs coming on the market and to greater availability of public charging points.
Retrofitting homes, with improvements like solar panels and heat pumps, is going slowly, held back by a cumbersome grant system and lack of skilled trades. By 2024 only 11.5% of the target for 2030 had been met. Roof insulation is one of the most effective measures in reducing the need for heating oil. One of the challenges is that costs have to be met by the homeowner before grants are paid and more incentives may be needed to speed up the process.
More people are using public transport but in some rural areas where buses are rare it’s common to see three or even four cars a household to meet transport needs. Last year Transport for Ireland TFI reported seven million passengers, a 19% increase.
In the short term, aside from selective measures to help those most impacted by fuel hikes – like angry hauliers currently operating at a loss due to fuel hikes and those on low incomes already struggling with cost of living increases – what can we do to conserve fuel while prices, as they are likely to do for quite some time, remain high due to the Middle East crisis?
The IEA have published a list of common sense measures for everyone in the EU. Among them are working from home where possible. (I’m wearing extra layers while doing so to avoid putting on the heating). Driving more slowly by about 10 % less reduces fuel consumption, where we tend to drive above our vehicles’ optimal cruising speed on motorways.
Take a bus or a train, (it would help if there were enough bus drivers to run them). Sharing cars and offering lifts would cut down the numbers of fuel guzzling commuter vehicles on the roads. Commercial vehicles should practise eco driving too.
Another idea to reduce fuel consumption and the number of cars crowding into cities is to have a number plate rotation scheme with alternate private car access on different days. Reducing business flights (zoom or online conferencing are an alternative) will cut jet fuel consumption and there is always a staycation as an alternative to jetting off for a hot sun holiday.
But aren’t these the sort of measures we should be adopting anyway?
