Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

373 Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing Solid fuel use. When we heat our homes by burning solid fuels such as coal, peat and wood in stoves or open fires, harmful air pollutants, including PM 2.5 , are released. As well as having an impact on the outdoor air quality in our locality, burning of solid fuel has an impact on our indoor air quality by exposing occupants to considerable levels of air pollutants. The choices we make in how we heat our homes can have a large bearing on our health and the health of our family and the community in which we live (Topic Box 14.2). New Solid Fuel Regulations came into effect in October 2022 restricting the sale of smoky fuels in Ireland (S.I No. 529/2022; see also Chapter 2 for more details). The primary objective of the regulations is to improve air quality and people’s health by ensuring that the most polluting fuels are no longer available on the Irish market. A range of policy measures are needed to encourage the transition away from the use of peat and other solid fuels, towards more sustainable alternatives (Figure 14.3). An examination of the implementation of policy measures in other countries suggests that measures to tackle solid fuel use are most effective when implemented as a suite of supportive interventions (Eakins et al ., 2022). Targeted education and awareness of the negative effects of using solid fuels, better burning practices, the costs and benefits of using cleaner heating systems such as heat pumps, and the benefits of retrofitting homes are needed, particularly in localities where significant air pollution will continue. Coupled with this, more targeted support schemes offering incentives for retrofitting homes are needed for highly polluting homes. The Climate Change Advisory Council’s Annual Review 2023 (CCAC, 2023) recommends that the number of retrofits needs to increase each year and that homes using peat or coal as their main heating fuel should be prioritised. Transport-related air pollution. Road traffic and vehicle emissions are the main outdoor source of the harmful air pollutant NO 2 . As our towns and cities tend to have greater volumes of traffic, higher concentrations of NO 2 are seen on busy roads, representing a risk to health in these often densely populated urban areas. Almost 70% of journeys are by private car (CSO, 2021), signalling that there is much more to do in enabling and encouraging the transition to more active modes of travel (see Chapter 11 for more details). Noise pollution Environmental noise can originate from a wide range of sources, but noise from transport sources (road, rail and aircraft) results in the largest population exposure to excessive noise levels. Over 1 million people are estimated to be exposed to transport noise levels above the mandatory noise level reporting thresholds given in the Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC). Moreover, nearly 1.5 million people are exposed to road traffic noise above the stricter WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (WHO, 2018). The EU Zero Pollution Action Plan aims to reduce the number of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% by 2030 compared with 2017. There is a clear link between transport policy and reducing environmental noise from transport. While some work has been ongoing to tackle noise in Ireland, such as the use of lower noise road surfaces, traffic calming measures to reduce speed and noise monitoring at residential locations, the actions so far are not sufficient to meet the targets in the EU Action Plan. New noise action plans are in development at local authority level, and national sustainable mobility policies should provide some benefits. There is also a need to focus on the identification and protection of quiet areas as outlined in the Environmental Noise Directive. Such areas may also provide a multitude of additional co-benefits that can improve health and wellbeing and reduce harmful environmental exposures.