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Ireland’s Environment 2012
14
The Tourism Renewal Integration
Group was established in 2010 and
tasked with driving competitiveness
for Ireland’s tourist industry. TRIG
identified that Ireland has a particular
competitive advantage in the area
of eco-tourism. Hence a clean
environment is essential for the
maintenance and growth of this
important sector.
The Green Hospitality Programme
(www.ghaward.ie), sponsored
by the EPA through the National
Waste Prevention Programme,
is an internationally recognised
environmental certification initiative
that helps hospitality businesses
to improve their environmental
performance and enables them
to market their business to an
increasingly environmentally
conscious customer. The programme
has over 200 members and resulted
in savings of €5.6m in 2010 through
reductions in water and energy use
and waste generated.
Energy
Ireland’s energy requirement over
the past two decades has increased
significantly due to growth in
energy consumption for transport,
electricity and space heating. Fossil
fuels accounted for 95% of all
energy used in Ireland in 2009. Oil is
by far the dominant energy source
but natural gas use has also been
increasing. Figure 1.5 shows the
breakdown of Ireland’s total primary
energy requirement by fuel type.
Figure 1.5
Total Primary Energy Requirement by Fuel Type (Source: SEAI)
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
Kilotonnes of Oil Equivalent
Coal
Peat
Oil
Gas
Renewables