Ireland is one of the most advanced countries in energy transition, getting over a quarter of its electricity from renewables. It also has one of the most ambitious targets—to obtain 40% of its electricity generation from renewables by 2020—and the resources to be more than 100% powered by renewables, given time and technological development. On the flip side, it also has a severe dependence on imported fossil fuels, and relies on some of the dirtiest power plants in the world.
In this episode, we explore this curious mix of reality, ambition, and potential with the leader of Ireland’s Green Party, a bona fide energy wonk and a longtime supporter of energy transition. From Ireland’s domestic renewable resources to the tantalizing possibility of the North Seas Offshore Grid initiative, it’s all here.
Geek rating: 4
Guest: Eamon Ryan is the leader of Ireland’s Green Party; the former Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources; and is currently a member of the Communications, Climate and Energy committee in the Irish Parliament. He also currently works for E3G, a European climate organization, and chairs the digital policy group in the Institute of International and European Affairs.
On Twitter: @eamonryan
On the Web: Eamon Ryan’s website
Recording date: November 18, 2016
Air date: November 30, 2016
Links
The Climate Gathering – Creative climate change conversations in Ireland
Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)
“Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth – An Integrated Marine Plan for Ireland,” Our Ocean Wealth. (Jul 2012)
Jessica Shankleman, “Trump Isolated on Climate as World Works on Fossil Fuel Limits,” Bloomberg. (Nov 17, 2016)
Michael Grunwald, “Environmentalists get a dose of good news,” Politico. (Nov 18, 2016)
Art Berman, “Giant Wolfcamp Oil Field Would Lose $500 Billion At Today’s Prices,” Forbes. (Nov 20, 2016)
Liam Denning, “The Mysterious Case of Big Oil’s Disappearing Barrels,” Bloomberg. (Sep 30, 2016)
Daniel Graeber, “North Dakota oil production falls,” UPI. (Nov 17, 2016)
David Warren, “Vast shale oil field in Texas could yield 20 billion barrels,” Associated Press. (Nov 16, 2016)
David Roberts, “The feds just gave batteries and rooftop solar panels access to big-time energy markets,” Vox. (Nov 22, 2016)
Marcy Crane, “FERC rule would help storage, distributed resources participate in markets,” S&P Global Market Intelligence. (Nov 17, 2016)
FERC News Release, “FERC Proposes to Integrate Electricity Storage into Organized Markets” (Nov 17, 2016)
Danielle Ola, “Illinois’ Exelon energy bill could result in ‘largest rate hike in US history’,” PVTech. (Nov 16, 2016)
“Simulation brings global 100% renewable electricity system alive for the first time,” Phys.org. (Nov 3, 2016)
Photo credit: By liam murphy, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12932784M
