Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

288 Chapter 11: Environment and Transport 3. Environmental pressures of and impacts from transport Energy consumption The 2020 State of the Environment Report highlighted that continued growth in energy consumption for transport was a major concern (EPA, 2020). There has been very little decarbonisation of the transport fuel mix to date, with transport CO 2 emissions remaining tightly coupled to energy use. In 2022, the total transport energy demand had rebounded to 95% of pre-COVID (2019) levels (see Topic Box 11.2), with 94.2% of road transport energy demand met by fossil fuels. The years 2022 and 2023 saw record levels of biofuel blended into our petrol and diesel. Using provisional data from 2023, demand for petrol increased by 6.6% but reduced by 1.2% for diesel. In addition, there were significant increases in the volume of biofuel used: bioethanol increased by 41% and biodiesel by 29.5% (EPA, 2024a). Internal combustion engine passenger cars, despite their share of total demand decreasing from 59.4% in 2012 to 49.1% in 2022, continue to account for just under half of the energy consumption by road transport (Figure 11.8). Light-duty vehicles exhibit minimal fluctuations in their share of energy consumption. Figure 11.8 shows a decreasing trend in the share of energy consumption for buses, from 9.4% in 2012 to 8.1% by 2022. This could suggest improvements in the efficiency of buses, a reduction in bus use or a shift to other modes of transport. The increase in the proportion of energy consumption attributed to HGVs, from 14.9% in 2012 to 21.2% in 2022, suggests an increase in the volume of goods transported or a change in the usage patterns of these vehicles. It could be because of significant improvements in the fuel efficiency of other vehicle categories, especially passenger cars. As passenger cars have become more fuel efficient and their relative share of energy consumption has decreased, the share accounted for by HGVs appears larger by comparison, not necessarily because these vehicles have become less efficient or more numerous but because other categories are using less energy relative to HGVs. Greenhouse gas emissions In 2023, the transport sector was responsible for 21.4% of Ireland’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, highlighting the sector’s considerable contribution to the country’s overall emissions profile. Road transport accounted for 94.8% of these emissions (Figure 11.9). Figure 11.8  Breakdown of energy consumption by each mode of road transport, 2012–2022 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% ˜ Passenger Cars – ICE ˜ Light Goods Vehicles ˜ Heavy Goods Vehicles ˜ Buses ˜ Others 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 Year Energy Consumption Source: EPA, 2024a Note: Other modes of road transport accounted for 0.1% each year, 2012-2022