Energy emissions in 2022 were the lowest of any year in the last quarter of a century, except 2020 due to the pandemic. However, the pace of emissions reduction is not sufficient to meet our national climate obligations.

The is according to figures contained in the Energy in Ireland 2023 report, which was published by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on Thursday morning.

The report highlights the twin dependencies of Ireland’s energy supply as we imported 81.6% of our energy in 2022 and 85.8% of our energy came from fossil fuels.

In 2022, transport energy demand rebounded to 95% of pre-COVID 2019 levels and data from January to September 2023 indicates continuing rebounds in petrol, diesel and jet kerosene demand.

SEAI analysis indicates that transport emissions this year will likely be higher than last year, at odds with the obligations of our legally binding carbon budgets.

2023 imports

In the first nine months of 2023, Ireland imported over 9% of its electricity, significantly reducing Ireland’s electricity emissions in that period.

SEAI analysis shows that electricity emissions in 2023 may be down by as much as 25% on last year, but highlights that the EU-UK carbon price differential driving these electricity imports could disappear as markets rebalance or as EU legislation is introduced.

Electricity imported into Ireland is essentially classed as emissions neutral, as the emissions are attributed in the country of production. Therefore, higher imports may show lower total electricity emissions.

Speaking about the report, director of research and policy insights with SEAI Margie McCarthy said: “Despite the excellent progress made on renewable electricity, the momentum of our home energy upgrades and the uptake of electric vehicles, Ireland remains highly dependent on imported fossil fuels to satisfy our energy needs.”

She said that despite the positive investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy, it's still too slow.

“Unless we accelerate, the pace of change will not be enough for us to achieve our national and EU obligations. Despite all the evidence, we are not yet acting in line with what climate science tells us, that we are living through a climate emergency,” she said.

High understanding

The first results report from the SEAI behavioural energy and travel tracker sets out analysis of the everyday energy behaviours of people in Ireland from December 2022 to April 2023.

Among the findings were that people reported a high understanding of how to save energy and said they were making a substantial effort to use energy efficiently.

However, there are a number of areas in which people are using energy inefficiently. Over the study period, more than one in five participants travelled by car for a short journey on a given day and a similar number used a tumble dryer.

Up to 40% of people heated empty rooms or an unoccupied home and one quarter of thermostat owners had theirs set to 21°C or higher. Interestingly, less than half the sample said their home had a thermostat installed in the first place.

The analysis also found that many Irish people were at risk of energy poverty last winter and are therefore likely to be again this winter, with over one third of the sample consistently reporting having difficulty paying their energy bills.

Around 45% of Ireland’s energy use is for direct personal consumption, primarily in our homes and in our cars. So, it is absolutely essential that we all become more energy efficient to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, McCarthy said.