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As oil prices surge and the need to rapidly switch to energy sources that
are secure and environmentally friendly becomes increasingly apparent,
more and more Irish people are tapping into the renewable energy
resources at their disposal. But are the Government giving people the
incentive to make the switch? John Hearne investigates.
“Every second customer who rings us asks what is the status regarding incentives. We have to tell them: Fine words of encouragement and that’s it.” Paul Sikora of geothermal heatpump company Dunstar expresses the frustration of an entire industry.
If you go to the effort and expense of incorporating renewable technologies in building your home, if you install a heatpump, a wind turbine, a solar panel, photovoltaics, or a pellet stove, the Government will offer nothing to defray the costs. This is despite the fact that support schemes are in place throughout the EU, despite the fact that an independent report commissioned by the state agency, Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) concluded that some renewable sectors will never progress beyond infancy without support, despite the fact that a recent report by Dr. Peter Bacon estimated that Ireland is facing EU fines of up to €4 billion should it fail to meet its Kyoto obligations, and despite the fact that the economy is dangerously over-reliant on non-renewable energy sources. “At the moment,” Sikora continues, “geothermal in practice is limited to people with fairly generous budgets building near the upper end of the prestige housing market. Anybody that is having trouble putting funds for a mortgage together finds, whether it be panels or geothermal or even something like a condensing boiler, the expense is off-putting…People very often say, not this time. In practice, people don’t set about building their own house too many times in a lifetime…”
Two years ago, SEI commissioned a report from the Danish Energy Authority (DEA) on active solar thermal energy in Ireland . Among its conclusions, the report states that “no successful solar thermal energy development in Europe has taken place without some sort of public support, and the same conclusion will probably be true for Ireland .” While the report dealt exclusively with solar thermal technologies, co-author Jens Windeleff says this conclusion can be applied across other renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines, geothermal heat pumps or pellet stoves and boilers. “If you want a significant development, the European experience shows very clearly that it would not be possible without some grants or national funding or tax reduction or whatever. That’s the lesson learned from twenty years of European development.” He’s keen to emphasise that these supports need not, indeed should not prop the sustainable sector in perpetuity. In Denmark , a domestic subsidy for both wind turbines and solar thermal heating began at 30% and as the sector strengthened, that subsidy was gradually reduced to zero. Both sectors now thrive in an unsupported, free market. “You see the same thing in Japan .” Windeleff continues. “They had a very strong subsidy for solar electricity for many years and they are going to cancel it next year totally because it’s not necessary any more.” The DEA’s report included a study which found that the financial costs of a support programme for solar thermal heating balanced with the savings it would deliver. “The purpose was not to make a detailed economic calculation but just to tell programme managers and politicians that you don’t have to fear that this will lose money…You will make a lot of meaningful new jobs and it would help fulfil the Kyoto obligations, so if it’s financially useful why don’t we do it?”
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