Eamon Ryan at ASPO6

[Foleypt]

Minister Eamon Ryan gave the closing address at The Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) & Gas 6th annual conference held in Cork earlier this week.

http://www.aspo-ireland.org/index.cfm/page/aspo6

ASPO contend that we must prepare for a near future where civilization will have less cheap easily obtainable fossil energy.

Eamon moderated and spoke on the panel at ASPO4 held in Lisbon and I was fortunate enough to attend and spoke with him in person. His knowledege and interest in the area impressed me greatly and was one of the milestones that set me off down my current path of interest in green politics.

I have been trying to find links to text, audio or video of Eamon's speech? Does anyone know where I might be able to find such links?

[David Cochrane]

Moving this to Environment, this isn't exclusively a Green Party issue.

[Wolverine]

He should maintain grant support for renewable energy products then, not be reducing them and putting ridiculous obstacles (like a 1500 litre buffer tank) in the way of people who want to install wood pellet systems. I find the approach by the greens in Government to SEI truly bizarre.

[qtman]

He should maintain grant support for renewable energy products then, not be reducing them and putting ridiculous obstacles (like a 1500 litre buffer tank) in the way of people who want to install wood pellet systems. I find the approach by the greens in Government to SEI truly bizarre.

WTF are you talking about?

The whole Greener Homes scheme has been debated here ad nauseum.

The initial scheme was set up to deal with nascent market. ie grant levels were set a certain level to stimulate demand. This worked, and now the grant levels have been trimmed back to reflect greater supply and reduced pricing. This will allow more people to avail of the grant at the same relative benefit as early adopters.

For instance, I installed a wood pellet boiler under the initial scheme. The total cost was €8,000, for which I received a grant of €4,200. At the time, wood pellets were impossible to get. I had to drive to Meath (80 miles) to get really crappy pellets that cost 42c per kg and which were sourced in Canada.

If I was to install the same boiler today, it would cost me about €6,500, for which I would receive a grant of €3,000. I can now buy pellets online at a cost of 30c per kg. This pellets are sourced in Co. Fermanagh.

Ryan has also said that he wants to reserve budget in this area to grant aid retro fitting of insulation, which is just as effective in reducing domestic heating emissions.

Get a grip.

[Foleypt]

I believe the reduction in grant support was due to the new level being the continuation of an expiring scheme with a reduced budget. I am quiet sure in due time Minister Ryan will be back with new schemes that will support fully those who wish to invest in renewables.

On wood pellet

I was thinking of installing such a system in our house here in Portugal. There were many advantages. (even if the government here presently gives next to no support) However I decided against it. Despite Portugal having a large forest industry there were as yet not local manufacturers of the pellets. The Pellets only really make sense when produced as a by product of the forestry industry and so there are natural limits to the amount of people you want to be taking up wood pellet or else you will end up with shortages such as happened in Germany and the US. I believe there is one manufacturer in Ireland now for the pellets, but you would need more native pellet production before this fuel should be promoted more as it doesn't make as much sense to either import or create pellets except as a by product.

[onthefence]

all his speechs are on http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie

[Wolverine]

Qtman - the SEI have just announced that all biomass boilers have to be fitted with a 1500 litre buffer tank from the 1st of October onwards. This is expected to add an extra 2-3K to the price of an installation and is not needed for many, if not most, boiler models - it is only needed for the oldest, stupidest designs - any boiler that can modulate has no need for a buffer tank.

However, SEI in their wisdom have decided that all boilers, whether or not they need it, will be required to have it.

Aside from the cost, a 1500 litre tank is a bloody big tank to site anywhere - imagine something the size of a large heating oil tank and you get the picture. Where does the SEI/Minister Ryan see it being located? It would come right through any attic of upstairs floor it's placed on.

In addition, all boiler systems must make provision for bulk storage, which makes it very difficult for suburban residents to install a boiler at all. To quote: "the minimum requirement will be 4 tonnes or 6.5 cubic metres of storage". Gone are smaller 1/2 tonne hoppers which could be filled by bags. It's bulk or nothing (or to be more exact, oil)

Add to that is the reduced grants, which although not fatal are definately unwelcome, and reduce the incentive to go green. Oil is still cheaper to install and we should be looking to eliminate that gap, not maintain or widen it.

So what do you think of that?

[Foleypt]

all his speechs are on http://www.dcmnr.gov.ie

Thanks for that. The Aspo speech is not there yet, however perhaps it will pop up in time if I keep checking back.

[qtman]

In addition, all boiler systems must make provision for bulk storage, which makes it very difficult for suburban residents to install a boiler at all. To quote: "the minimum requirement will be 4 tonnes or 6.5 cubic metres of storage". Gone are smaller 1/2 tonne hoppers which could be filled by bags. It's bulk or nothing (or to be more exact, oil)

Where are you getting this info from?

If its true, I imagine that its designed to stimulate demand in the bulk storage sector, although I wouldn't agree with it.

[Wolverine]

From the SEI's own installers newsletter, that's where.

The bulk storage demand is bad enough - the buffer tank demand is flat out stupid. A 1500 litre insulated tank? Where would you put it?

The bulk demand is also completely unnecessary - the cheaper price of bulk pellets is more than an incentive by itself, as is the convenience of a "fill and forget" system.