COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 08, 2008

MOTION NO.4

MOTION: Councillor D. Keating

That the Manager would present a detailed report for discussion on what policies are being introduced by South Dublin County Council in the interest of sustainable and renewable energy sources. What joint efforts can be made by the four Dublin Local Authorities in the interest of joined-up thinking to help progress this matter in the future.

REPORT:

A report on Sustainable Energy was presented at the meeting of the Environment Strategic Policy Committee on the 6th September 2006.The report outlined various approaches which are being undertaken by a number of Council Departments. LINK  Policies are being pursued by the Council in a number of areas and ongoing assessment is taking place.

Vehicle Fuels.

The Mechanical Section initiated a project in the Summer of 2007 that explores the potential benefits and practicality of three different alternative fuels. These alternative fuels are:

 Ø       Rapeseed Oil – Two VW Transporter Pickups purchased for Esker Parks Depot.

Ø       Bio-Diesel - A Bio-Diesel tank (30% Bio-Diesel – 70% DERV mixture) has being installed in the Ballymount depot, and two Renault S180 Cleansing Section trucks are now running on Bio-Diesel.

Ø       Bio-Ethanol – A Ford Focus Bio-Ethanol car was recently purchased for use by the Council's Golf Course.

So far there has practically being no change in the smoke opacity results between the pickups using Diesel and Rapeseed Oil. In terms of servicing, the engine has to be serviced more regularly. Also, after some time it was noticed that the power of the vehicle reduced dramatically when constantly driven in heavy traffic. The same problem has been found with the Bio-Diesel vehicles.

It is still too early to say if either fuel has a future in terms of replacing DERV (standard Road Diesel) as the Council's main fuel for commercial vehicles. Other technologies are currently being developed by major car manufactures, such as Electric, Hydrid, Hydrogen and Compressed Air. These technologies could in the future render Bio-Fuels redundant.

There are currently international doubts regarding the sustainability of using Rapeseed Oil for vehicle fuel, as the land required for fuel production could vastly reduce the land available for food growth. The continuous year in, year out growing of Rapeseed Oil on the same land without crop rotation can also result in the determent of the land.

The outlook for Bio-Diesel on the other hand may be brighter as there are many companies now recycling waste oils, fats, greases, etc for vehicle fuel. Bio-Diesel fuel is actually a mixture of Bio-Diesel and DERV. Different manufactures standby different ratio’s of Bio-Diesel/DERV mixes. The vehicle tenders advertised this year by the Council have a section requiring the tenderer to state if the vehicle they have tendered will still be under guarantee if run on a 10%/90% Bio-Diesel/DERV mix. This ratio is far more common amongst vehicle manufactures than the one used for the Renault trucks mentioned above. 

This project has being in place since the summer of 2007. It is intended to continue with the project for a further year before deciding on which, if any of the above fuels are viable for use in the existing and future Council fleet. By that time, it should be clearer as to whether any of the fuels have long term adverse effects on engines and by then it may be possible to see whether other alternative means of fuelling vehicles (e.g. electric, compressed air, hybrid etc.) have come to the fore. 

 Pumping Stations.

The Mechanical Section is currently investigating the possibility of installing a small 6KW wind turbine at Belgard Reservoir subject to the necessary funding being availablel. This wind turbine would feed into the reservoirs current ESB mains power supply thereby reducing the running costs of the reservoirs storage heaters, actuated valves, telemetry and pumps. The reservoir is located at one of the highest points in the region and wind supply is always available.

The Mechanical Section has also recently commenced investigating the possibility of installing a small water driven turbine on the River Liffey to feed into Lucan Spa Drainage Pump Station power supply. This research is in its initial stages.

The Council will maintain ongoing liaison with the other Dublin Local Authorities to monitor progress made by them on the use of sustainable and renewable energy in carrying out their functions.

Waste - Arthurstown Landfill

The Council’s landfill at Arthurstown contains an energy recovery plant where landfill gases are diverted through an underground network system of pipes to a central collection point. From there they are fed into a gas turbine system for conversion to electricity. This electricity is fed into the national grid for onward distribution as green electricity and can supply electricity for approximately 5,000 houses.

A number of initiatives have been carried out on Capital Works Projects undertaken by South Dublin County Council Architectural Services Department which aim to create working models of sustainable technologies which can be monitored and assessed in use for incorporation in future projects.

All projects carried out by the Architectural Services Department are designed to Best Practise criteria. This means that major projects undertaken surpass the minimum regulation standard required.

The specific projects, which have been listed below give an overview of some of the work which has been carried out to date:

The Planning and Development Act 2000 requires that a Development Plan shall, so far as is practicable, be consistent with national plans, policies and strategies, which relate to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area covered by the Plan.  Many national policies, plans and guidelines have arisen from Ireland’s international obligations e.g. the Kyoto Protocol (1997) committed the developed world to begin taking action in relation to climate change while the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro (1992) endorsed the concept of sustainable development. Thus the County Development Plan 2004-2010 seeks, for example,:

The policies and objectives of the Development Plan combine to seek to ensure that the county continues to develop in a sustainable manner and to combat climate change by developing residential areas in close proximity to employment/enterprise centres and to community/recreational facilities and also to supporting initiatives regarding renewable energy and energy efficiency which promote the sustainable development of the county.  Development Plan policies include:

7.24.4 Policy EC 4: Renewable Energy

7.24.4.i

It is the policy of the Council to support national and international initiatives for limiting emissions of greenhouse gases and to seek to provide positively for the development of appropriate renewable energy sources.

7.24.5 Policy EC 5: Energy Efficiency

7.24.5.i

The Council will seek to improve the energy efficiency of its existing building stock, and to promote energy efficiency and conservation in the design and development of all new buildings in the County, and in residential schemes in particular.

 It is also an objective as stated in Section 7.24.4.iii of the Plan to carry out a study to identify areas suitable for the development of renewable energy. 

 7.24.4.iii

In conjunction with the appropriate agencies, the Council shall carry out a study to identify areas suitable for renewable energy development (including hydro electricity and wind generation) and to examine the renewable energy technologies best suited to the County that make use of the natural resources in a sustainable manner, having regard to the renewable energy resources of the County and to any constraints there might be on their development, and shall insert a list of suitable locations into the Development Plan by way of variation.

 This study has not yet been initiated.  However investigations are on-going in relation to alternative energy sources in the county including geothermal energy.  It is noted that on June 3rd the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources initiated a public consultation exercise on establishing a regulatory regime for geothermal energy.

 In Local Area Plans the Council seeks to provide for the development of areas where the proposed mix of land uses and facilities would provide for the growth of sustainable communities through implementation of the policies/objectives/targets set out in these plans.  The Council’s innovative Clonburris SDZ Planning Scheme and Local Area Plan views Clonburris as presenting “an excellent opportunity to create a viable and highly sustainable new urban district, an Eco-District’.

The Council is continually interested in the evolving renewable energy issues and the broader issue of climate change and these will be further addressed in the forthcoming County Development Plan review.

In accordance with the wishes of the elected members the council has initiated a project to measure the Council’s carbon footprint and has a considerable amount of work completed in advance of publishing  a Sustainable Energy Strategy for the organization.   

An Interdepartmental Working Group established to develop the Strategy has been working with Sustainable Energy Ireland and have produced a number of working papers and the strategy will cover inter alia:

 The draft strategy is progressing well and it is anticipated that it be listed as an item for consideration at the October meeting.

Recent Study Visit to Pullach & Erding Germany

Members and officials recently visited Pullach and Edring in Germany to examine Geothermal energy plants.  The council is mindful of the exploration and mining division of the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources current position on Geothermal energy and the establishment of a working group by Minister Ryan to review the status of geothermal energy and consider options to advance the geothermal regulatory position in Ireland. As a result the council reserves judgement until the public consultation process initiated by the Department has been finalised and a report published.

Climate Change

On the broader issue of climate change a report on a proposed Climate Change Strategy for South Dublin County was presented to the Environment SPC at its meeting held on the 7th May last.The report stated 'inter alia' that CODEMA, an Energy Agency established 10 years ago under the aegis of Dublin City Council  has built up considerable expertise and has provided advice and assistance to the City Council on programmes and initiatives undertaken by them.

In 2007 they worked with the Environment SPC of the City Council on the development of a Climate Change Strategy for the City. Given the proximity to the city of South Dublin County, the similarities in population profile, the nature of both our businesses and the scales involved it is likely that there will be strong similarities in the approach to any measures taken in developing a Climate Change Strategy.

A CODEMA representative has met with the Council on a number of occasions and the following proposal on how the Strategy for South Dublin County could be developed is as follows;

The Strategy will address the issue of transport, energy demands etc.

It is likely the South Dublin County Climate Change Strategy will  be ready to launch in March '09.  It is proposed that an Action Plan will also be developed for the implementation of the Strategy.