Bernard alerted me to the fact that Sustainable Energy Ireland launched their new website, combatclimatechange.ie in conjunction with the beginning of Energy Awareness Week.
The more people that follow the 10 Energy Saving tips the better for everyone. It does however annoy me, ever so slightly, that given there can be a fairly large initial outlay, there are no incentives for home owners to do more, i.e. Solar Heating, Solar Power generation (even with current, relatively ineffecient technology), and even wind power.
I quote
There are currently no general grants available to the consumer for the installation of renewable energy or energy saving measures. SEI’s allocated funding and resources are not sufficient to support this. At present SEI provides information on energy systems for consumers. The House of Tomorrow programme provides support for large scale housing developments – where solar panels can be supported – in order to encourage best practise in the building industry.
The government is regularly updating its policies of support. The latest policy update is likely to be a change to the price support mechanism for electricity generation from wind and biomass. The relevant department is the Sustainable Energy section of the Dept of Communication, Marine and Natural Resources. It is the primary body charged with the implementation of EU Directives on energy such as:
Directive on Electricity Supplied from Renewable Energy Resources
Directive on Liquid Biofuels
Directive on Combined Heat and Power
Directive on Building Services