Progress on cutting Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions continued during the first three months of the year with an overall reduction of 2.2% in emissions compared with the same three-month-period in 2023, according to a new quarterly emissions report from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The first ever quarterly emissions data from the EPA shows electricity imports accounted for 11% of all electricity used in Ireland during the first three months of this year.
That saved over 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions being attributable to Ireland and is equivalent to two-thirds of the total reduction in emissions when all sectors of the economy are taken together.
Earlier, in July this year, the EPA announced that Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 6.8% last year to the lowest level for three decades.
The implication was that national efforts to reduce climate pollution were beginning to pay off.
The biggest driver then, according to the EPA, was a 22% drop in emissions from power generation.
That happened because the amount of electricity coming through interconnectors from the UK into Ireland soared, while renewable energy from wind and solar continued to grow.
Overall, Ireland’s electricity emissions, on their own, decreased by 16.7% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023.
This is smaller than the 22% reduction reported for all last year.
However, it is early days and figures for the remaining three quarters of the year will be watched closely.
Electricity was not the only sector to show continuing positive trends in the first quarter this year.
The trends in agriculture were good too, with emissions down 2.6% because of reduced lime application to soils as well as lower milk output.
Adverse weather between January and March was the key factor behind a 56.6% reduction in lime used by farmers.
Milk output from dairy cows was also down 7.7% despite the number of dairy cows falling by just 0.7%.
Meanwhile greenhouse gas emissions rose in other key sectors.
Emissions from transport were up 2.7% in the first three months compared with the same period last year.
This was driven by a 9.6% increase in petrol sales and a 1.3% increase in diesel sales.
Emissions from buildings were also higher in the first three months of this year compared with last year.
The reason, according to the EPA, was that early 2024 was colder than early 2023. As a result, more fossil fuels were burned to generate more heat.
Also, the price of gas was cheaper, so people were more inclined to use it.
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The consequence was that emissions from residential buildings went up by 6.1% while emissions from commercial and public buildings rose by 4.1% compared with the same period last year.
Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment, Dr Eimear Cotter, said: “The reduction of 2.2% in Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions in the first quarter of 2024, when compared with the same period last year, is welcome following the largest annual reduction in emissions outside of recession reported in 2023.”
“This shows that we can make progress in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions when concerted action is taken,” Dr Cotter added.
Mary Frances Rochford, Programme Manager of EPA’s Climate Programme said: “These findings signal the continued impact of climate action and decarbonisation measures across Ireland’s economy and society. The assessment on a quarterly basis also highlights the impact of market prices and weather conditions.”
