Electricity in Ireland

WanabeOlympian · 19-12-2012 06:27PM #1

I know our government don't really plan in the far future but seeing as we are living on an island, do you think we should stop buying in billions of euro worth of fossil fuels? Instead use wind and wave energy. We're surrounded by sea and lots of wind. I'm sure the infrastructure would be very expensive but if we want to consider what Ireland will be like for young Irish kids today when they are adults, I think we need to start ditching the coal burning stations the esb still use. I assume wind/wave energy will bring the cost down eventually..

SEPT 23 1989 · 19-12-2012 06:29PM

You forgot about Nuclear Power

kneemos · 19-12-2012 06:30PM

Too expensive.

WanabeOlympian · 19-12-2012 06:31PM

That's a whole other thread. Just going with stuff Irish people would actually find acceptable and we can work on now.

Sauve · 19-12-2012 06:32PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

I know our government don't really plan in the far future but seeing as we are living on an island, do you think we should stop buying in billions of euro worth of fossil fuels? Instead use wind and wave energy. We're surrounded by sea and lots of wind. I'm sure the infrastructure would be very expensive but if we want to consider what Ireland will be like for young Irish kids today when they are adults, I think we need to start ditching the coal burning stations the esb still use. I assume wind/wave energy will bring the cost down eventually..

I've the clothes-line strung across the beach and the fridge is plugged into the tidal marks on the pier.

fasttalkerchat · 19-12-2012 06:39PM

Surely it would make more sense to use only the cheapest forms for the next decade or two. (Cheapest factoring in emissions fines)

DEFTLEFTHAND · 19-12-2012 06:40PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

That's a whole other thread. Just going with stuff Irish people would actually find acceptable and we can work on now.

I've noticed a rise in the number of wind farms in the country over the last decade so I presume there is a move at foot to increase it's usage.

spank_inferno · 19-12-2012 06:54PM

When shale gas production increases in Europe electricity prices will probably drop back, seeing as natural gas is the biggest generating fuel used.

Wind & wave cannot compete with Gas on price.
Wind etc is far from "free" energy and is sporadic in its availability.

kneemos · 19-12-2012 06:55PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

I know our government don't really plan in the far future but seeing as we are living on an island, do you think we should stop buying in billions of euro worth of fossil fuels? Instead use wind and wave energy. We're surrounded by sea and lots of wind. I'm sure the infrastructure would be very expensive but if we want to consider what Ireland will be like for young Irish kids today when they are adults, I think we need to start ditching the coal burning stations the esb still use. I assume wind/wave energy will bring the cost down eventually..

How is closing a few power stations going to change Ireland for our kids?

spank_inferno · 19-12-2012 06:57PM

kneemos wrote: »

How is closing a few power stations going to change Ireland for our kids?

They will grow more accustomed to seeing in the dark.

upstairs for coffee · 19-12-2012 06:59PM

Rural people don't want wind turbines as it isn't aesthetically pleasing! :rolleyes:

kneemos · 19-12-2012 07:04PM

upstairs for coffee wrote: »

Rural people don't want wind turbines as it isn't aesthetically pleasing! :rolleyes:

They're also subsidised because they don't make money.

stimpson · 19-12-2012 07:05PM

We should run the gas off the electricity and the electricity off the gas.

Corvo · 19-12-2012 07:13PM

upstairs for coffee wrote: »

Rural people don't want wind turbines as it isn't aesthetically pleasing! :rolleyes:

Well I don't find them aesthetically pleasing!

Rural people that is...

Don't mind the turbines!

Chuck Stone · 19-12-2012 07:23PM

kneemos wrote: »

They're also subsidised because they don't make money.

If oil companies had to build roads do you think they'd sell as much petrol.

james142 · 19-12-2012 07:23PM

Most 'clean' energy sources are unreliable. Windmills only make electricity when its windy, solar-panels when its sunny etc.. Wasn't there a post a while ago with something to do with Germany's problem with their clean energy sources, the amount of power coming from these sources varied which strained the grid or something along the lines of that..

Capt'n Midnight · 19-12-2012 07:43PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

I think we need to start ditching the coal burning stations the esb still use.

They are already down to their last station.

Renewables already produce as much of our electricity as coal.

As for the rest, brush up on economics. Fossil fuel is used because it's cheap and can be used on demand.

It would be nice if you had a smart meter so you could set your washing machine to run at the cheapest price before Thursday , or have water (still) hot enough for a bath by 11pm as it may be cheaper to overheat the water earlier

But yeah we could probably get a better return on investment spending a few billion or so into insulating houses and offices than on building new plant to provide the heat that is currently going to waste. ( this applies to renewable, fossil fuel and nuclear)

donegal_road · 19-12-2012 08:27PM

we could have developed alternative energy over the last 15 or so years, but 'Ireland' blew pretty much every last available cent and more, on developments that are lying abandoned or vacant all over the world

dxhound2005 · 19-12-2012 09:00PM

There will be no big overnight change but as fossil fuels run out the renewables will gradually have to take over. As it happens there was an item on the news today about a new way of storing surplus wind energy (either that or a nice free commercial on RTE for Glen Dimplex)

http://www.rte.ie/news/news1pm/player.html?20121219,20129506,20129506,flash,232

I was surprised to hear that last Christmas Day 42% of electricity consumed in the country came from wind. As technology develops wind, solar and wave should become more efficient. Overly depending on something like Russian gas could be risky.

On an individual basis the easiest way for people to economise is to not waste electricity. Simple things like not leaving TV's or lights on when not needed or only boiling as much water in the kettle as is needed would save a lot of money. But we live in a very affluent country which is able to throw away hundreds of Euros worth of food per household every year (on average) so these sort of things are not a consideration for most people at present.

If I was going to be around for the next 50 years and had money to invest I would get into the alternative energy sector.

kristopher_1 · 19-12-2012 09:01PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

You forgot about Nuclear Power

Absolutely, It's extremely popular in Japan.

Cookie_Monster · 19-12-2012 09:06PM

a mini turbine and PV solar and thermal solar on every rooftop would go a long way
But then OP you'd have to pay for it yourself and would bitch about the price.

KyussBishop · 19-12-2012 11:22PM

The price of oil is likely only going to go on up into the future (though there is room for reducing it some now, due to market speculation), so it's inevitable: we need to change our infrastructure, to be less dependent on oil, and the sooner the better.

If we don't prepare, we're going to have another economic catastrophe in a decade or two, when the availability of cheap (easy to extract) oil, starts a permanent decline.

There's actually no better time to do it than right now either: We have loads of idle workers, and an idle construction industry, so the EU could pump truly enormous amounts of printed money into this, without any significant inflationary cost (the main potential for inflation being wages, which can be managed with fiscal policy, as already happens).

This can be done without adding to our public debt, can solve the unemployment problem, solves future energy problems and prevents inflation from that (when oil prices would otherwise push the price of everything up), and solves the economic crisis, because workers wages from that will stimulate the economy, setting us on the path to gradual recovery.

kneemos · 19-12-2012 11:30PM

The consequence of shale oil and gas production will have a huge impact on the price of oil and the longevity of supplies.

Sergeant · 19-12-2012 11:30PM

KyussBishop wrote: »

The price of oil is likely only going to go on up into the future (though there is room for reducing it some now, due to market speculation), so it's inevitable: we need to change our infrastructure, to be less dependent on oil, and the sooner the better.

If we don't prepare, we're going to have another economic catastrophe in a decade or two, when the availability of cheap (easy to extract) oil, starts a permanent decline.

There's actually no better time to do it than right now either: We have loads of idle workers, and an idle construction industry, so the EU could pump truly enormous amounts of printed money into this, without any significant inflationary cost (the main potential for inflation being wages, which can be managed with fiscal policy, as already happens).

This can be done without adding to our public debt, can solve the unemployment problem, solves future energy problems and prevents inflation from that (when oil prices would otherwise push the price of everything up), and solves the economic crisis, because workers wages from that will stimulate the economy, setting us on the path to gradual recovery.

Any excuse to give your horseshít theories on MMT economics a good airing, eh?

petersburg2002 · 19-12-2012 11:32PM

Was amazed to find out that over 85% of electricity in Brazil comes from renewable resources, with the vast majority from hydro plants. Surely, we can do better than we are doing at the moment.

Freddy Smelly · 19-12-2012 11:37PM

WanabeOlympian wrote: »

I know our government don't really plan in the far future but seeing as we are living on an island, do you think we should stop buying in billions of euro worth of fossil fuels? Instead use wind and wave energy. We're surrounded by sea and lots of wind. I'm sure the infrastructure would be very expensive but if we want to consider what Ireland will be like for young Irish kids today when they are adults, I think we need to start ditching the coal burning stations the esb still use. I assume wind/wave energy will bring the cost down eventually..

there is an estimated 60bil worth of oil off the coast of cork and another 30 bil of shale gas under leitrim and yet we import oil and gas :rolleyes:

KyussBishop · 19-12-2012 11:38PM

Sergeant wrote: »

Any excuse to give your horseshít theories on MMT economics a good airing, eh?

Strange, I can't find any mention of MMT in my post, and I seemed to be discussing policy, not theory.

KyussBishop · 19-12-2012 11:42PM

kneemos wrote: »

The consequence of shale oil and gas production will have a huge impact on the price of oil and the longevity of supplies.

The trouble with shale oil/gas though, is that the 'net return on investment' is not nearly as good as with oil from easier to extract wells; it costs more money to extract, and you get less overall return from it, so that oil is priced higher.

It comes with an ecological cost too in pollution, which is hard to quantify monetarily.

bleg · 19-12-2012 11:44PM

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

You forgot about Nuclear Power

Nuc u lar

Pottler · 19-12-2012 11:46PM

Slap up a turbine in Dail eireann. Unprecedented gusts of hot air and a good central location. Problem solved.

JRant · 19-12-2012 11:50PM

Freddy Smelly wrote: »

there is an estimated 60bil worth of oil off the coast of cork and another 30 bil of shale gas under leitrim and yet we import oil and gas :rolleyes:

Why go down that road when we have an endless supply of energy pounding ours shores on a regular basis?
The west coast has some of the best conditions on the planet for wave energy harvesting.
If we were to pump the money that would be needed to extract that oil and gas into R & D on wave and tidal energy we would see benefits for generations to come.

Electricity in Ireland

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