QQI Level An Overview of the Sustainable Energy Used In Ireland Sample

More and more nations including Ireland are shifting their focus on using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. The reason is simple. With renewable sources of energy, the environment remains clean and free from pollution. On the contrary, fossil fuel consumption can result in greenhouse gas emissions. Many infrastructures within the country prefer sticking to renewable sources of energy to avoid pollution.

The different healthcare infrastructures in the country use renewable sources of energy to meet their requirements and in the process create an environment that is free from pollution. Such environments are very much useful for the patients who visit hospitals and nursing homes in Ireland for treatment purposes.  This essay features the renewable energy targets in Ireland. It also discusses the various types of renewable energy sources that are available in the country.

Renewable energy targets

In 2018, Ireland was one of the 28 EU nations which invested in infrastructures to achieve the renewable energy targets. However, despite such bold steps by Ireland to boost its renewable energy sources, it faced several obstacles that prevented it from being self-sufficient in energy sources.

It was earlier decided that almost 16% of the energy that is consumed in Ireland by various industries including the healthcare industries must come from renewable energy sources by the end of 2020. The target was set and it was a mandatory one under the European Union Renewable Energy Directive. This target is also referred to as the RES target. 

Similarly, there are other targets for the different modes of energy use. In Ireland, renewable sources of energy include heat, electricity, and transport, solar. Reports suggest that the renewable energy share was 11% in 2018. The target was to attain a value of 16% by 2020. Renewable energy (electricity) accounted for almost 66% of the energy (renewable) used way back in 2018.

In transportation and healthcare, a significant amount of energy is expended. Bit it has a very low share of renewable energy. It implies that the transportation sector is a high consumer of fossil fuels. However, other sectors use such energy. It implies that the healthcare sector is one of the major users of Ireland’s renewable energy sources. 

It is estimated that almost 10% of the energy that is used in rail and road transport is available from renewable sources of energy. This is a mandatory directive and hence the transport sector in the country must implement it.  

Weighting factors

The renewable energy directive mentions a few multipliers and weightings that are usually applied to certain types of fuels. These weightings only act to incentivize the fuels used by various sectors in Ireland including the healthcare sector. Another aspect of the weightings is that it simplifies meeting the RES-T targets.

In this context, it is relevant to comprehend that a weighing factor of 2 is applied to energy sources like bio-fuels both advanced and biofuels from waste. On the other hand, a weighting factor of 2.5 is applied to renewable energy sources that generate electricity. Such electricity is often consumed by electric rail transport.

A weighting factor with a value of 5 is applied to electricity that is generated from renewable energy sources. Such electricity is used by electric cars. 

Popular Renewable Energy Sources In Ireland

Following is a discussion about the various types of renewable energy sources that are popular in Ireland. 

Bio-diesel and Bio-ethanol

This type of energy source is extensively used in the transportation sector in Ireland. Often these types of energy sources are mixed with diesel and petrol and sold in Ireland. Bio-diesel constituted almost 82% of the renewable energy that is consumed in the transportation sector in Ireland in the year 2018. Bioethanol accounted for almost 18% of the energy that is consumed at that time.

Still, a significant population prefers using fossil fuels like diesel and petrol for transportation purposes. Often bio-diesel and bio-ethanol are used in healthcare sectors. Many hospitals and nursing homes run on clean renewable sources of energy.

Electricity in transport, healthcare facilities

Many in Ireland used fossil fuels as sources of energy. However, in recent times things are changing. People in Ireland and various sectors in the country are now considering using renewable sources of energy like electricity. Electricity is extensively used by the healthcare sector.

Various hospitals and nursing homes in Ireland use electricity that is derived from renewable sources of energy. Apart from the healthcare sector electricity is widely used by the transportation sector. In recent years, modern cars are built and run on the roads of Ireland and these vehicles use electricity. 

Ireland set a target of 12% of energy from renewable sources by the end of 2020 and 2021. The renewable energy target was only 6.5 % way back in 2018. The use of renewable energy is mostly derived from bio-mass. There has been a significant enhancement in the use of renewable energy in the healthcare sectors, real estate sectors.

There is no EU target for the use of clean energy. However, Ireland has set a target of 40% of energy in the form of electrical power to come from various renewable energy sources by the end of 2020 and 2021. Another statistic in this regard is worth mentioning. Almost 33% of electrical energy was derived from carious clean energy sources way back in 2018. Hydroelectricity power and wind energy are normalized.

The concept of normalization is when the output derived from hydroelectricity and wind generators is averaged over several years to neutralize the effect of varying rainfall conditions or windfall in any particular year. 

Wind

85% of the renewable electricity was derived from normalized wind energy in 2018. Wind generated a significant 28% of the electrical power way back in 2018 and it is second only to natural gas power generation. 

The country has the second big share of energy from wind in the EU in 2018. The country that has the most share of wind energy in the EU is Denmark. However, some challenges adversely affect wind power generation in the country. The country has poorly interconnected electrical grids and that is a big challenge as far as electricity generation from wind energy is concerned.  

Solar

Ireland also uses solar energy to meet its electricity requirements for household purposes. Many households in the country rely totally on the use of solar energy. 

This essay features an overview of renewable energy targets for the country. It also highlights the types of renewable sources of energy that are common in the country. It also highlights the type of renewable sources of energy that healthcare facilities like hospitals and nursing homes prefer to use in Ireland. For more information on this topic, visit relevant resources available on the web.