EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 10: Environment and Industry Ammonia Emissions from Facilities in the Intensive Agriculture (Pig and Poultry) Sector The intensive agriculture (pig and poultry) sector accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the ammonia emissions arising in Ireland. As outlined in Chapter 13, the agriculture sector accounts for virtually all (99%) ammonia emissions in Ireland. The EPA regulates the intensive agriculture (pig and poultry) sector, which combined accounts for approximately 10 per cent of these emissions. The BAT conclusions for this sector, which must be complied with by 2021, set, for the first time at the EU level, limits for ammonia emissions to air from animal housing and for excretions of nitrogen and phosphorus for various categories of pigs or poultry. Compliance with the ammonia limits will require an ammonia control programme incorporating measures such as nutritional management, forced ventilation, air cleaning and cooling systems and, in specific cases, abatement techniques. 3. Resource Use in Industrial Sectors Industrial sectors account for a fifth of total energy consumption in Ireland (SEAI, 2018). Over half of this energy is consumed by three sectors in producing food, basic metals and non-metallic mineral products (e.g. cement and lime). The growth of data centres means that this sector is expected to be a large energy consumer in the future. The EPA is required to consider energy efficiency in assessing licence applications, while for certain sectors the BAT conclusions set thermal energy consumption levels that are incorporated into EPA licences. The data available regarding water consumption from the industrial sector in Ireland is limited, and limited data is also available from Eurostat (2017a,b). Information around water consumption is expected to improve with the new water abstraction licensing system that the EPA is now bringing into operation. Analysis of water consumed by 100 EPA-licensed facilities in 2014 (Stockil et al. , 2016) revealed that the largest water users or abstractors are the food sector, production of basic metals, non-metallic mineral production and mining. Topic Box 10.3 Data Centres and Energy Usage Data centres underpin our digital economy by processing, storing and transacting digital data. While they run solely on electricity, most facilities maintain standby generators to provide continuous power in the event of an emergency, such as a grid supply failure. Many sites also have dual supplies within the distribution network to minimise the risk from local supply disruption. Data centre energy demand was estimated at 10 per cent of electricity consumption in 2019 (Bitpower Energy Solutions, 2020). By 2028, data centres could account for 29 per cent of Ireland’s electricity consumption in a median demand scenario (EirGrid Group, 2019). The Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) applies to installations with generating capacity of 50 MWth (thermal input) and above, and includes standby plants. Data centres with on-site emergency generating capacity (e.g. diesel generators) only, which do not generate primary power on site, will not generally require an IED licence though the individual generators are required to be registered in accordance with the Medium Combustion Plant (MCP) Directive. The MCP Directive applies to combustion plants with a rated thermal input capacity of between 1 and 50 MWth. The registration deadline depends on the capacity of the plant and whether it is new or existing plant Most data centres operating in Ireland fall into this category. There are currently (November 2020) 171 registered generators. 4 4 http://www.epa.ie/mcp/#/register. 267