Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

53 Chapter 2: Air for residential solid fuels to allow only products with low smoke emissions to be sold. These changes limit the smoke emission rate and the permitted moisture and sulphur content of fuels, leading to lower particulate matter and SO 2 emissions when burned. Overall, these measures reduce emissions and positively influence air quality. Ten local authorities participated in a pilot project, funded by DECC, on implementing the Solid Fuels Regulations. This funding allowed the local authorities to raise awareness, monitor local air quality and test solid fuels offered for sale in the marketplace. Inspections by local authorities following the introduction of the new regulations showed that the overall compliance rates among the fuel merchants and retailers inspected was high (EPA, 2023b). Concerningly, however, sulphur sampling results from the fuels tested confirmed that a small percentage of non-compliant coal products was sold on the Irish market. The Focus on Local Authority Environmental Enforcement – Performance Report 2022 (EPA, 2023b) highlighted areas where further action is required by local authorities to ensure that only approved solid fuels are available for sale to reduce air pollution from the combustion of solid fuels for home heating. Topic Box 2.3  Clean Air Together – Dublin, Cork and Galway Clean Air Together is a citizen science project led by the EPA in partnership with the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce and local authorities. Participants measure levels of the traffic pollutant NO 2 near their home, business or school. The project has four main objectives: 1. increase public knowledge and engagement with the topic of air pollution 2. provide data that will help validate EPA air quality models 3. assess the impacts of citizen-based air quality monitoring on awareness, attitudes and the potential to lead to behaviour change 4. inform policy by working in partnership with stakeholders. Following the success of Clean Air Together in Dublin and Cork cities, the large-scale citizen-based air pollution monitoring project moved to Galway city in 2023. Figure 2.17 shows monitoring results for Galway. In 2024, Clean Air Together moves to Limerick city – more information is available on www.cleanairtogether.ie. Figure 2.17  Map of results for Clean Air Together, Galway © OpenStreetMap contributors NO ₂ levels (µg/m³) 40+ 30 - 40 20 - 30 10 - 20 0 - 10 October Monitoring November Monitoring