Peat Briquette RIP

1874 wrote: »

So, in case of any misunderstanding< Im agreeing with you here





Over time, I think things need to change, we cant keep stripping the bogs bare for a number of reasons, burning peat and briquettes is inefficient, obviously its not going to happen all at once. It would be a trainwreck.

I think BnM needs to move into other areas (of energy production/restoring the land) the cost surely must be offset by the cost of carbon penalties, and remedial measures to fix flooding.
To support employment and local communities, but really to retain the skills and give time for changes to occur, but in the end change needs to happen and eventually hopefully it will for all our benefit. If done right, heating a house should/can be cheaper, interior (and outside) air quality, should/can be better than if using a finite resource.

I agree that fossil fuels have largely had their day. The resource is not sustainable long term. However the economic impact of the wind d8wn of Bord na Mona and the ESB in the midlands in the last 30 years has been staggering...that is an argument for another day.

I am concerned though with our energy security in this country. We are seeing a huge increase in amber alerts with eirgrid, and this will multilly as more people move to heat pumps and electric cars.
We have limited solar capacity in winter and like we seen for the start of the month, a sustained spell of high pressure will virtually knock out wind power..
I'm no expert on the subject, but should we be exploring developing our own nuclear power.
When France moved to it in the 70s it greatly reduced their carbon emissions and boosted energy security.
Are modern nuclear plants more efficient and safer than previous ones?

jester77 wrote: »

District heating, heating gets delivered via pipes into the house, and then distributed around the house for the taps, showers and underfloor heating.

Source of the heat ??
Heat pump ??

Using electricity from peat until recently

The cold in Canada is not a damp cold like in Ireland

NcdJd wrote: »

Will be interesting to see how much of the 125,000 acres of bogland will be restored / rewetted and use to store carbon versus the percentage of bog land that will be used as platforms for wind and solar farms. From little information I can get from the BNM website it looks to me that just because they are stopping peat harvesting, does not automatically mean a bog is going to be restored.

Can anyone find any figures on that ? I tried but could not find anything.

I'm not sure - but I do know that simply rewetting cutover bogland doesn't restart peat decomposition. Necessary aneorbic and acidic conditions take time to establish along with the correct volume and balance of flora essential for peat build up.

Some studies have shown that it may take up to a couple of hundred years for a full bogland ecosystem to reestablish. The same goes for reestablishing rates of carbon sequestration equivalent to that of untouched bogland.

Most of what was cut over for peat in the Midlands was raised bog. What we do have in Ireland is an abundance of upland blanket bog. This is just as important and frequently gets no consideration in its role of controlling excess rainfall and carbon sequestration. Too much has been lost to commercial forestry operations pushed by investment companies.

NcdJd wrote: »

I would have thought a better approach now that they no longer harvest peat and are basically a power generation company, that BNM would be disbanded, the workers transferred over on the same wages and conditions to a small state agency like the NPWS, and get down to restoring the whole 125000 acres.

Pouring hundreds of millions of tonnes of concrete into these areas for bases for wind turbines seems a very short sighted thing to do considering the uniqueness of the habitat.

Contracts are probably already signed with the Windfarm contractors,

RandomViewer wrote: »

Would I be right in thinking that Peat briquettes will now be imported from Latvia?

I don't know about briquettes but its likley that peat based composts for horticulture and gardening will increasingly be imported from abroad.

NcdJd wrote: »

I would have thought a better approach now that they no longer harvest peat and are basically a power generation company, that BNM would be disbanded, the workers transferred over on the same wages and conditions to a small state agency like the NPWS, and get down to restoring the whole 125000 acres.

Pouring hundreds of millions of tonnes of concrete into these areas for bases for wind turbines seems a very short sighted thing to do considering the uniqueness of the habitat.

Is wind the only renewable source they are aiming for? Id have thought there is still a limited number oflocations suited to the kinds of foundations for windturbines, but even still, it isnt necessary to cover the entire bog in concrete, its a limited footprint under a windturbine required to hold the thing up, they cant butt two turbines right up to each other. cant the surrounding bog still be restored? or locations unsuitable for wind turbines? Im not significantly a supporter of wind turbines nor am I outright against them, I think they suit certain locations better. Is there a continuous wind resource in the Midlands to put all the renewable eggs into that source.


Regarding restoring the wetlands, is it possible to artificially support that, if there is location with the right conditions, can you grow an appropriate plant material on one hand to store carbon/the other to cut and place in bogs to be subject to the processes that create bogs? is it possible to build them up with bio matter? if it is possible, it would seem to take generations, but it might assist in providing employment without drastically scaling back the workforce and the shock effects of that.

NcdJd wrote: »

So if I'm reading this right and from the information I've gleaned from the BNM website, this is not really about conservation but about the transition of a semi state company from the production of energy from fossil fuel based sources to one that involves the use of green energy methods...with a couple of bogs restored to keep everyone happy.

Wouldnt hold my breath on the bog restoration bit, funding will suddenly be scarce and another few turbines will go up, It'll be privately owned not semi-state when finished

1874 wrote: »

Well, Id say its about producing our power and heat needs with the least environmental impact and doing so the most efficiently, I dont really like using buzz words or terminology, but the "low hanging fruit" is the end use has to be the least amount possible for each user, so efficiency has to be high, the best way to do this is external wall insulation and airtightness, MVHR, and even heat pumps because they can reduce the cost or depending on how you look at it increase the heat output 3-4 fold if set up and run correctly, basically needs insualtion and airtightness done correctly imo.









The greens arent only disliked in rural areas, in urban areas by anyone that isnt in their circle, so wealthy enough to go along with them, the end goal is right, but the implementation is ridiculous imo as it has to be feasible and more carrot than stick. That said, went on a holiday to Sligo once, lovely area near the coast, it was summertime, later on the first evening, noticed bonfires lighting up, all over the place, nearest ones could clearly see it was plastic at least was being burned, not through peoples chimneys, I blame the State for defunding waste collection and for poor implementation and not realising people will take the cheapest option, but individuals still have to do the right thing too, can oly imagine what any foreign tourists were thinking of how we treat our countryside, I was horrified.






Well they dont produce it, only cut it, I can imagine that will go the way of the Do-do, we either stop cutting it, or it will eventually run out, maybe its possible to restore or help them and they can serve as a wildlife preserve, maybe we can even restore them/help capture Co2 by growing appropriate native plants/trees. I have one idea that might be too horrific to mention on how to restore them, but obviously these things need to be calculated and tested by environmental engineers.





Not 100% certain, might be because they haven't put the money into their grid and generation and didnt adopt measure to reduce their usage/increase their efficiency at the end user, possibly because they have deregulated/privatised the whole grid/supply. I beleive they have and utilise a huge wind resource and have been doing so back since? the late 70s, maybe the early 80s, its likely those wind generators have been replaced many times, but they arent 100% garaunteed to produce when there is demand, solar PV would seem to be a huge resource, but that is a massive urban area, they will need to meet a certain base load, which they must not be capable of at peak demand.





Insulation/airtightness, that would reduce the influence of high heat on living spaces.

Wow!! That has to get some kind of tome award, something like the longest wedding speech....

CoBo55 wrote: »

Wow!! That has to get some kind of tome award, something like the longest wedding speech....

thanks for your input

Every worker should have been retained and the two very modern plants kept open, they could have transitioned into biomass to feed the plants if they were any way interested. They coould burn straw and other sustainable green fuels. Fast growing GMO Eucalyptus could be grown with a 6-7 year rotation.

These bureaucrats from their ivory towers in Dublin 4 don't give a damn, however as a result we are one deep easterly period of sustained low pressure with subzero temperatures away from rolling blackouts as a result of the decimation of Peat powered Electricity. And with Peat fired fuel gone we should be seeing the PSO charge on our electric bills disappear? like hell we will. I hope when the blackouts come that South Dublin is the first disconnected from the grid.