County Waterford, Ireland
What is Renewable Energy?
Renewable energy is the term used to cover those energy flows that occur naturally and repeatedly in the environment - energy from the sun, wind oceans, and the fall of water. The heat from within the earth itself, geothermal energy, is usually regarded as renewable. Plant material, combustible or digestible industrial, agricultural and domestic waste materials are also regarded as renewable sources of energy. Renewable energy sources offer the hope of increasing diversity and security of supply, and of reducing harmful emissions to the environment. Some renewable energy sources (eg solar) produce no CO2 or other gaseous material at all.Wind Energy
Wind power is one of Ireland's least harnessed natural resources. Waterford County Council, as per requirements of the Department of Environment, has prepared a County Landscape Character Assessment on the development of wind farms and the associated visual impact. The strategy will integrate wind resource maps (as produced by the SEI "Wind Atlas" project) with grid capacity a
nd landscape assessment.
There is enormous potential for the development of wind power in Ireland . The country has one of the best wind resources in the world - almost the entire country has either an excellent or very good wind energy resource. The local impact of wind farms must be given proper consideration, but that should always be balanced against the global benefits of greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
Wind power also reduces our dependence on imported oil, coal and gas. For example, a 1 MW Wind Turbine can provide enough electricity for 650 homes and will avoid 175 tonnes of slag and ash and the emission of 2100 tonnes of the greenhouse gas CO2, 30 tonnes of Sulphur Dioxide and 10 tonnes of Nitrous Oxide per year.
Small scale wind turbines can be used for the provision of electricity on site for businesses etc.
More modern designs of wind turbines and proper siting have resulted in less obtrusive and more silent wind farms.
Two wind farm developments in County Waterford have received planning permission from Waterford County Council but have yet to be built.
Wind Energy Map (Click to enlarge)
Wind Energy Strategy (word .doc, 39 kbs)
Small Wind Turbines
Small wind energy systems can be used in connection with an electricity transmission and distribution system (called grid- connected systems), or in stand alone applications that are not connected to the utility- supplied grid. In areas with adequate wind regimes (more than five meters per second annual average), simple wind generators with an output range of 100 to 500W can be used to charge batteries and thus supply enough power to meet basic electricity needs.
The reason however that we don not see wind turbines in every home is because wind is a diffuse and fickle source of energy and the equipment needed to convert it into a usable power is expensive.
Solar Energy
Brief Description:
Solar water heater is an efficient and reliable technology that converts sunlight into heat to produce hot water. A solar water heater can reduce your hot water and heating bill by between 40-70%.
In Ireland a horizontal surface of 1m2 receives an average of between 1,000kWh and 1,200kWh of solar energy per year (the equivalent of 120 litres of oil). Both direct sunlight (40%) and indirect sunlight (60%) provide this energy. So even when the sky is over cast you can’t see the sun, its radiation (sunlight) is available at ground level and can be converted into useful heat by solar water heater. On a bright day, any surface standing in the sun will receive about 1,000 watts of solar radiation (a power equivalent to that of 10 strong bulbs).
Heat Pumps
The burning of fossil fuels to meet our demand is resulting in the emission of vast amounts of greenhouse gases. Irish households consume the equivalent of 2.4 million tonnes of oil every year for their energy needs outside transport. This represents 25% of the total final energy consumption in Ireland. Burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, peat, gas etc provides the vast majority of that energy. This results in the emission of 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the main contributor to green gases emissions.
Today heat pumps can help us to reduce our energy consumption for space heating and hot water production (which is over 80% of the energy you use at home) by more than 60%, with a payback period of around five years on additional equipment cost.
A heat pump is an environmental energy technology that extracts heat from low temperature sources (air, water, and ground), upgrades it to a higher temperature releases it where it is used for space and water heating.
Liquid Biofuel
Transport Issues: Transport uses almost 40% of Irelands total final energy consumption and is the greatest energy-consuming sector in the country. Virtually all transport vehicles in Ireland are powered by fossil fuels (petrol or diesel). The combustion of fossil fuels in vehicle engines emits greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. Fossil fuels are a finite resource and will not last forever.
Three Types of Liquid BioFuel
Pure plant oil: vegetable oil (rapeseed, sunflower, palm, soy…) or waste cooking oilBiodiesel from vegetable oil, waste cooking oil or fats Bioethanol can be made with sugar beet, sugar cane, cereals and wood residues.
